Stratified patterns of adolescent employment and their relation to educational attainment

The study examines relations between adolescent employment and three aspects of higher education: beginning an undergraduate degree, completing the degree and type of institution (more prestigious university versus less prestigious college). Our research adds a new dimension to the concept of adolescent employment: the contribution of the adolescent’s earnings to household income. This dimension links the earnings of the adolescent, as reflected in his/her salary, with parental socioeconomic status, as reflected in family income. Analyzing administrative data from the Israel National Insurance Institute for the cohort of 1991, which includes information for ages 12–28 (2003–2019), we found that adolescent employment per se does not usually affect higher education attainment, but there is a negative relation between the adolescent’s income share and higher education, even after controlling for household income in early adolescence. Engaging in the debate on the consequences of employment during adolescence for later life outcomes, our study reveals that this depends on the centrality of the adolescent’s contribution to family income.