Technical information: (202) 691-7410 USDL 08-0860
http://www.bls.gov/nls/
For release: 10:00 A.M.(EDT)
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, June 27, 2008
NUMBER OF JOBS HELD, LABOR MARKET ACTIVITY, AND
EARNINGS GROWTH AMONG THE YOUNGEST BABY BOOMERS:
RESULTS FROM A LONGITUDINAL SURVEY
The average person born in the later years of the baby boom
held 10.8 jobs from age 18 to age 42, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Nearly two-
thirds of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 27.
These findings are from the National Longitudinal Survey of
Youth 1979, a survey of 9,964 men and women who were ages 14 to
22 when first interviewed in 1979 and ages 41 to 50 when
interviewed most recently in 2006-07. These respondents were
born in the years 1957 to 1964, the later years of the "baby
boom" that occurred in the United States from 1946 to 1964. The
survey spans more than a quarter century and provides information
on work and nonwork experiences, training, schooling, income and
assets, health conditions, and other characteristics. The
information provided by respondents, who were interviewed
annually from 1979 to 1994 and biennially since 1994, can be
considered representative of all men and women born in the late
1950s and early 1960s and living in the United States when the
survey began in 1979.
This release of the latest data from the longitudinal survey
focuses on the number of jobs held, job duration, labor force
participation, and earnings growth. Highlights from the survey
include:
--Individuals born from 1957 to 1964 held an average of 10.8
jobs from ages 18 to 42. These baby boomers held an average of
4.4 jobs while ages 18 to 22. The average fell to 3.3 jobs while
ages 23 to 27 and to 1.9 jobs from ages 38 to 42. Jobs that
span more than one age group were counted once in each age group,
so the overall average number of jobs held from age 18 to age 42
is less than the sum of the number of jobs across the individual
age groups.
--Although job duration tends to be longer the older a worker
is when starting the job, these baby boomers continued to have
large numbers of short-duration jobs even as they approached
middle age. Among jobs started by workers when they were ages 38
to 42, 31 percent ended in less than a year, and 65 percent ended
in fewer than 5 years.
--The average person was employed during 77 percent of the
weeks from age 18 to age 42. Generally, men spent a larger
percent of weeks employed than did women (84 versus 70 percent).
Women spent much more time out of the labor force (25 percent of
weeks) than did men (10 percent of weeks).
--The annual percent growth in inflation-adjusted hourly
earnings was fastest when workers were in their late teens and
early twenties. Growth rates in earnings generally were higher
for college graduates than for workers with less education.
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Number of Jobs Held
Individuals held an average of 10.8 jobs from ages 18 to 42,
with the majority of the jobs being held before age 27. In this
report, a job is defined as an uninterrupted period of work with
a particular employer. (See the Technical Note for additional
information on the definition of a job.) On average, men held
11.0 jobs and women held 10.6 jobs from age 18 to age 42. Men
held 4.6 jobs from age 18 to age 22, compared with 2.0 jobs from
age 38 to age 42. The reduction in the average number of jobs
held in successive age groups was similar for women. (See table
1.)
On average, college-educated women held more jobs than women
without a college degree and also held more jobs than college-
educated men. Women with a college degree held 11.5 jobs from
ages 18 to 42, compared to 10.7 jobs for similarly educated men.
Women with less than a high school diploma held an average of 8.7
jobs. Men without a high school diploma held 12.5 jobs from ages
18 to 42, a higher average than men or women with more education.
Differences in the number of jobs held also are apparent
between race and ethnicity groups. From age 18 to age 42, whites
held more jobs than blacks or Hispanics or Latinos. The
difference is concentrated among 18- to 22-year-olds.
Duration of Employment Relationships
The length of time a worker remains with the same employer
increases with the age at which the worker began the job. Of the
jobs that workers began when they were ages 18 to 22, 72 percent
of those jobs ended in less than a year and 94 percent ended in
fewer than 5 years. Among jobs started by workers when they were
ages 38 to 42, 31 percent ended in less than a year and 65
percent ended in fewer than 5 years. (See table 2.)
Percent of Weeks Employed, Unemployed, and Not in the Labor Force
On average, the baby boomers represented by the survey sample
were employed during 77 percent of all the weeks occurring from
age 18 to age 42. They were unemployed--that is, without jobs but
seeking work--5 percent of the weeks. They were not in the labor
force--that is, neither working nor seeking work--18 percent of the
weeks. (See table 3.)
The amount of time spent employed differs substantially
between educational-attainment groups, especially among blacks
and Hispanics or Latinos. Blacks with less than a high school
diploma (as of the 2006-07 survey) spent 53 percent of weeks
employed and 34 percent of weeks out of the labor force from age
18 to age 42. By comparison, black high school graduates spent
65 percent of weeks employed and 24 percent of weeks out of the
labor force. Hispanic or Latino high school dropouts spent 61
percent of weeks employed, compared with 71 percent of weeks for
Hispanic or Latino high school graduates. White high school
dropouts spent 70 percent of weeks employed, and white high
school graduates spent 79 percent of weeks employed. Among
college graduates, there was little difference between racial and
ethnic groups in labor market attachment; each group spent 80 to
82 percent of weeks employed and 14 to 15 percent of weeks out of
the labor force.
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The amount of time spent in the labor force also differs by
sex, with women at every educational level and at every age
spending fewer weeks in the labor force than men. Men with less
than a high school diploma spent 76 percent of weeks employed
from age 18 to age 42. These men also spent 9 percent of weeks
unemployed. By comparison, women with less than a high school
diploma spent just 50 percent of weeks employed and 6 percent of
weeks unemployed from age 18 to age 42. Women without a high
school diploma spent nearly as much time out of the labor force
(44 percent of weeks) as they did employed (50 percent of weeks).
The differences between men and women in labor force attachment
were much smaller among those with a bachelor’s degree or more
education, but men still spent a larger proportion of weeks
employed than did women (86 versus 79 percent).
Labor force attachment is related to age for both men and
women, with the percent of weeks employed increasing and the
percent of weeks unemployed or not in the labor force falling as
individuals grow older. From ages 18 to 22, men spent 21 percent
of weeks out of the labor force and women spent 32 percent of
weeks out of the labor force. This age range is a period when
large proportions of men and women attend college or receive
vocational training, and, as a result, they spend less time in
the labor force than they eventually will. Indeed, from ages 38
to 42, these men spent only 8 percent of weeks out of the labor
force, and women spent 21 percent of weeks out of the labor
force. (See table 4.)
Like men, women were more likely to participate in the labor
force as they aged, but the reduction in the percent of weeks
spent out of the labor force was much smaller among women than
among men. In fact, after age 22, women spent, on average, about
three times as many weeks out of the labor force as their male
counterparts. Women ages 23 to 27 and 28 to 32 each spent 26
percent of weeks out of the labor force. Women ages 33 to 37
spent 24 percent of weeks out of the labor force, and women ages
38 to 42 spent 21 percent of weeks out of the labor force.
Percent Growth in Real Earnings
The inflation-adjusted earnings of workers increased most
rapidly while they were young. Hourly earnings grew by an
average of 7.0 percent per year from ages 18 to 22 and 5.3
percent per year from ages 23 to 27. The earnings growth rate
slowed to 3.1 percent annually from age 28 to age 32, then to 3.6
percent annually from age 33 to age 37. From ages 38 to 42,
hourly earnings grew an average of 1.4 percent per year.
Earnings growth was stagnant for 38- to 42-year-olds with a high
school diploma or less education. This pattern in earnings
growth reflects, in part, the state of the U.S. economy during
the years in which survey participants were in each age group.
For men and women in nearly every age category, growth rates in
inflation-adjusted hourly earnings generally were higher for
workers with more education. (See table 5.)
Bureau of Labor Statistics
