Abstract
Teenagers working more than 20 hours per week perform worse in school than youth who work less. There are two competing explanations for this association: (1) that paid work takes time and effort away from activities that promote achievement, such as completing homework, preparing for examinations, getting help from parents and teachers, and participating in extracurricular activities, and (2) that the relationship between paid work and school performance is spurious, reflecting preexisting differences between students in academic ability, motivation, and school commitment. Using longitudinal data from the ongoing national Monitoring the Future project, this research examines the impact of teenage employment on school performance and academic engagement during the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. The authors address issues of spuriousness by using a two-level hierarchical model to estimate the relationships of within-individual changes in paid work to changes in school performance and other school-related measures. Unlike in prior research, the authors compare youth school performance and academic orientation when they are actually working in high-intensity jobs to when they are jobless and wish to work intensively. Results indicate that the mere wish for intensive work corresponds with academic difficulties in a manner similar to actual intensive work.
References
Section:
| Allison Paul D. 2005. Fixed Effects Regression Methods for Longitudinal Data Using SAS. Cary, NC: SAS Institute. | |
| Apel Robert, Bushway Shawn D., Paternoster Raymond, Brame Robert, Sweeten Gary. 2008. “Using State Child Labor Laws to Identify the Causal Effect of Youth Employment on Deviant Behavior and Academic Achievement.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 24(4):337–62. | |
| Bachman Jerald G., O’Malley Patrick M., Schulenberg John E., Johnston Lloyd D., Freedman-Doan Peter, Messersmith Emily E. 2008. The Education–Drug Use Connection: How Successes and Failures in School Relate to Adolescent Smoking, Drinking, Drug Use, and Delinquency. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates/Taylor & Francis. | |
| Bachman Jerald G., Safron Deborah J., Sy Susan Rogala, Schulenberg John E. 2003. “Wishing to Work: New Perspectives on How Adolescents’ Part-Time Work Intensity Is Linked with Educational Disengagement, Drug Use, and Other Problem Behaviours.” International Journal of Behavioral Development 27(4):301–15. Abstract | |
| Bachman Jerald G., Schulenberg John E. 1993. “How Part-Time Work Intensity Relates to Drug Use, Problem Behavior, Time Use, and Satisfaction among High School Seniors: Are These Consequences or Merely Correlates?” Developmental Psychology 29(2):220–35. Crossref | |
| Call Kathleen Thiede, Mortimer Jeylan T. 2001. Arenas of Comfort in Adolescence: A Study of Adjustment in Context. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. | |
| Carr Rhonda, Wright James, Brody Charles. 1996. “Effects of High School Work Experience a Decade Later: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study.” Sociology of Education 69(1):66–81. | |
| D’Amico Ronald. 1984. “Does Employment during High School Impair Academic Progress?” Sociology of Education 57(3):152–64. | |
| Eckstein Zvi, Wolpin Kenneth I. 1999. “Why Youths Drop Out of High School: The Impact of Preferences, Opportunities, and Abilities.” Econometrica 67(6):1295–339. Crossref | |
| Entwisle Doris R., Alexander Karl L., Olson Linda Steffel. 2000. “Early Work Histories of Urban Youth.” American Sociological Review 65(2):279–97. | |
| Entwisle Doris R., Alexander Karl L., Olson Linda Steffel. 2005. “Urban Teenagers: Work and Dropout.” Youth and Society 37(1):3–32. Abstract | |
| Greenberger Ellen. 1988. “Working in Teenage America.” Pp. 21–50 in Work Experience and Psychological Development through the Life Span, edited by Mortimer J. T., Borman K. M. Boulder, CO: Westview. | |
| Greenberger Ellen, Steinberg Laurence D. 1986. When Teenagers Work: The Psychological and Social Costs of Adolescent Employment. New York: Basic Books. | |
| Halaby Charles N. 2003. “Panel Models for the Analysis of Change and Growth in Life Course Studies.” Pp. 503–28 in Handbook of the Life Course, edited by Mortimer J. T., Shanahan M. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. Crossref | |
| Jessor Richard, Donovan John E., Costa Frances M. 1991. Beyond Adolescence: Problem Behavior and Young Adult Development. New York: Cambridge University Press. | |
| Jessor Richard, Jessor Shirley L. 1977. Problem Behavior and Psychosocial Development: A Longitudinal Study of Youth. New York: Academic Press. | |
| Johnston Lloyd D., O’Malley Patrick M., Bachman Jerald G., Schulenberg John E. 2008a. Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2007. Vol. 1, Secondary School Students (NIH Pub. No. 08-6418A). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. | |
| Johnston Lloyd D., O’Malley Patrick M., Bachman Jerald G., Schulenberg John E. 2008b. Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2006. Vol. 2, College Students and Adults Ages 19–45 (NIH Pub. No. 08-6418B). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. | |
| Kerckhoff Alan C. 2000. “Transition from School to Work in Comparative Perspective” Pp. 453–74 in Handbook of the Sociology of Education, edited by Hallinan M. T. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. | |
| Kish Leslie. 1965. Survey Sampling. New York: John Wiley. | |
| Kohn Melvin L., Schooler Carmi. 1983. Work and Personality: An Inquiry into the Impact of Social Stratification. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. | |
| Lee Jennifer C., Staff Jeremy. 2007. “When Work Matters: The Varying Impact of Adolescent Work Intensity on High School Drop-Out.” Sociology of Education 80(2):158–78. Abstract | |
| Longest Kyle C., Shanahan Michael J. 2007. “Adolescent Work Intensity and Substance Use: The Mediational and Moderational Roles of Parenting.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 69(3):703–20. | |
| Marsh Herbert W. 1991. “Employment during High School: Character Building or Subversion of Academic Goals?” Sociology of Education 64(3):172–89. | |
| Marsh Herbert W., Kleitman Sabina. 2005. “Consequences of Employment during High School: Character Building, Subversion of Academic Goals, or a Threshold?” American Educational Research Journal 42(2):331–69. Abstract | |
| McMorris Barbara, Uggen Christopher. 2000. “Alcohol and Employment in the Transition to Adulthood.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 41(3):276–94. | |
| McMorris Barbara, Uggen Christopher. 1995. “Extracurricular Activities and High School Dropouts.” Sociology of Education 68(3):62–81. | |
| McMorris Barbara, Uggen Christopher. 1997. “Are Students Being Pulled Out of High School? The Effect of Adolescent Employment on Dropping Out.” Sociology of Education 70(1):206–20. | |
| Mortimer Jeylan T. 2003. Working and Growing Up in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. | |
| Mortimer Jeylan T., Finch Michael, Ryu Seongryeol, Shanahan Michael J., Call Kathleen. 1996. “The Effects of Work Intensity on Adolescent Mental Health, Achievement, and Behavioral Adjustment: New Evidence from a Prospective Study.” Child Development 67(3):1243–61. | |
| Mortimer Jeylan T., Johnson Monica Kirkpatrick. 1998. “New Perspectives on Adolescent Work and the Transition to Adulthood.” Pp. 425–96 in New Perspectives on Adolescent Risk Behavior, edited by Jessor R. New York: Cambridge University Press. Crossref | |
| Mortimer Jeylan T., Shanahan Michael J. 1994. “Adolescent Work Experience and Family Relationships.” Work and Occupations 21(4):369–84. Abstract | |
| Mortimer Jeylan T., Staff Jeremy, Oesterle Sabrina. 2003. “Strategic Patterns of Adolescent Work and Early Socioeconomic Attainment.” Pp. 437–64 in Handbook of the Life Course, edited by Mortimer J. T., Shanahan M. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. | |
| National Research Council. 1998. Protecting Youth at Work: Health, Safety, and Development of Working Children and Adolescents in the United States. Committee on the Health and Safety Implications of Child Labor. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. | |
| Newcomb Michael D., Bentler Peter M. 1988. Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use: Impact on the Lives of Young Adults. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. | |
| Oettinger Gerald S. 1999. “Does High School Employment Affect High School Academic Performance?” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53(1):136–51. | |
| Osgood D. Wayne. 1999. “Having the Time of Their Lives: All Work and No Play?” Pp. 176–86 in Transitions to Adulthood in a Changing Economy: No Work, No Family, No Future? edited by Booth A., Crouter A. C., Shanahan M. J. Westport, CT: Praeger. | |
| Raudenbush Stephen W., Bryk Anthony S. 2002. Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. | |
| Rothstein Donna S. 2007. “High School Employment and Youths’ Academic Achievement.” Journal of Human Resources 42(1):195–213. | |
| Safron Deborah, Bachman Jerald G., Schulenberg John E. 2001. “Part-Time Work and Hurried Adolescence: The Links among Work Intensity, Social Activities, Health Behaviors, and Substance Use.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 42(4):425–49. | |
| Schoenhals Mark, Tienda Marta, Schneider Barbara. 1998. “The Educational and Personal Consequences of Adolescent Employment.” Social Forces 77(2):723–62. | |
| Shanahan Michael, Finch Michael D., Mortimer Jeylan T., Ryu Seongryeol. 1991. “Adolescent Work Experience and Depressive Affect.” Social Psychology Quarterly 54(4):299–317. | |
| Staff Jeremy, Messersmith Emily E., Schulenberg John E. 2009. “Adolescents and the World of Work.” Pp. 270–313 in Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, 3rd ed., edited by Lerner Richard, Steinberg Laurence. New York: John Wiley. Crossref | |
| Staff Jeremy, Mortimer Jeylan T. 2007. “Educational and Work Strategies from Adolescence to Early Adulthood: Consequences for Educational Attainment.” Social Forces 85(3):1169–94. Crossref, Medline | |
| Staff Jeremy, Uggen Christopher. 2003. “The Fruits of Good Work: Early Work Experiences and Adolescent Deviance.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 40(3):263–90. Abstract | |
| Steinberg Laurence D., Cauffman Elizabeth. 1995. “The Impact of Employment on Adolescent Development.” Pp. 131-166 in Annals of Child Development, Vol 11, edited by Vasta Ross. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. | |
| Steinberg Laurence D., Dornbusch Sanford M. 1991. “Negative Correlates of Part-Time Employment during Adolescence: Replication and Elaboration.” Developmental Psychology 27(2):304–13. Crossref | |
| Steinberg Laurence D., Fegley Suzanne, Dornbusch Sanford M. 1993. “Negative Impact of Part-Time Work on Adolescent Adjustment: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study.” Developmental Psychology 29(2):171–80. | |
| Tyler John H. 2003. “Using State Child Labor Laws to Identify the Effect of School-Year Work on High School Achievement.” Journal of Labor Economics 21(2):381–408. | |
| Uggen Christopher, Wakefield Sara. 2007. “What Have We Learned from Longitudinal Studies of Adolescent Employment and Crime?” Pp. 189–218 in The Long View of Crime: A Synthesis of Longitudinal Research, edited by Liberman A. New York: Springer. | |
| U.S. Department of Labor. 2000. Report on the Youth Labor Force. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. | |
| Warren John Robert. 2002. “Reconsidering the Relationship between Student Employment and Academic Outcomes: A New Theory and Better Data.” Youth and Society 33(3):366–93. Abstract | |
| Warren John Robert, Lee Jennifer C. 2003. “The Impact of Adolescent Employment on High School Dropout: Differences by Individual and Labor-Market Characteristics.” Social Science Research 32(1):98–128. | |
| Warren John Robert, LePore Paul C., Mare Robert D. 2000. “Employment during High School: Consequences for Students’ Grades in Academic Courses.” American Educational Research Journal 37(4):943–69. Abstract | |
| Willis Paul. 1977. Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. New York: Columbia University Press. |
