Title

The Effects of Early Work Experience on Young Women's Labor Force Attachment

Author(s)

Sigal Alon Sigal Alon (Princeton University)

Debra Donahue Debra Donahue (Princeton University)

Marta Tienda Marta Tienda (Princeton University)

Abstract

In this article, we examine women's labor force experience during the early life course in order to assess the conditions conductive to the establishment of stable labor force careers. To represent the complexity of women's work trajectories during young adulthood, we develop a conceptual framework that depicts a broad range of work activity profiles. Empirical results obtained using the NLSY show that three aspects of early experience influence mature women's labor force attachment, namely the amount of experience accumulated; the timing of work experience; and the volatility of that experience. Above and beyond these experience measures, we also find that background factors influence adult women's attachment to the market. The conclusion discusses the policy implications of these results.

Creation Date

2000-04

Section URL ID

OPR

Paper Number

opr0004.pdf

URL

https://web.archive.org/web/20150906201049/http://opr.princeton.edu/papers/opr0004.pdf

File Function

Jel

J16

Keyword(s)

NLSY, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

Suppress

false

Series

11