America's Youth at 20: School Enrollment, Training, and Employment Transitions between Ages 19 and 20 Summary

Technical information:  (202) 691-7410     USDL 08-0089
               http://www.bls.gov/nls/
                                           For release:  10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902     Wednesday, January 23, 2008


      America's Youth at 20:  School Enrollment, Training, and
           Employment Transitions Between Ages 19 and 20     

  
   Twenty-year-old male high school graduates were less likely to be
enrolled in college than 20-year-old women while men who had been en-
rolled were more likely to drop out, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 
the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Women were more likely to 
have graduated from high school, and those who had graduated were more 
likely to attend college.  In addition, women enrolled in college during 
October when they were age 19 were less likely than their male counter-
parts to have dropped out by the following October.
   
   These findings are from the first nine annual rounds of the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which is a nationally representative
survey of about 9,000 young men and women who were born during the years
1980 to 1984.  These respondents were ages 12 to 17 when first interviewed
in 1997 and ages 20 to 26 when interviewed for the ninth time in 2005-06.
The survey provides information on the employment experiences, schooling,
family background, social behavior, and other characteristics of these
youths.
   
   This release focuses on the school enrollment and employment experiences
of these youths from the October when they were age 19 to the October when
they were age 20.  Respondents were age 19 in October during the years 1999
to 2004 and age 20 in October from 2000 to 2005.  Highlights from the long-
itudinal survey include:
   
    -- By the October when they were age 20, 79 percent of men had graduated
       from high school compared with 84 percent of women.
        
    -- Among those who had dropped out of high school by the October when 
       they were age 19, 11 percent had graduated from high school or earned 
       a General Educational Development (GED) credential by the following 
       October.  Another 4 percent had not graduated but were enrolled in a 
       training or apprenticeship program and few had reenrolled in high school.
        
    -- Ten percent of male high school graduates who had never enrolled in
       college were in the Armed Forces during the October when they were age 
       20, as were 7 percent of the 20-year-old men who had attended college 
       but were no longer enrolled.
        
    -- Forty-two percent of high school dropouts and 20 percent of high school 
       graduates not enrolled in college were neither employed nor in training 
       during the October when they were age 20.
        
    -- Among high school dropouts who were not enrolled in school, 43 percent
       of non-Hispanic blacks were not employed in either the October when they
       were age 19 or the October when they were age 20 compared with 22 percent
       of non-Hispanic whites and 26 percent of Hispanics.
        
    -- High school graduates not enrolled in college were employed 78 percent
       of the weeks between the October when they were age 19 and the following
       October.  By comparison, youths who had dropped out of high school by the
       October when they were age 19 were employed, on average, 55 percent of
       those weeks.
   
                                  - 2 -

Educational Attainment at Age 20
   
   Forty-two percent of youths were enrolled in college during the October when 
they were age 20, down from 45 percent of 19-year-olds.  Thirty-nine percent of 
20-year-olds had graduated from high school and were not enrolled in college 
and 2 percent had earned a GED and were not enrolled in college.  Fifteen per-
cent of youths had dropped out of high school by the October when they were age 
20.  Men were more likely than women to have dropped out of high school and less 
likely to be attending college.  At age 20, 47 percent of women were attending 
college compared with 38 percent of men.  (See table 1.)
   
   Non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics were much more likely than non-Hispanic 
whites to be high school dropouts at age 20.  Blacks and Hispanics also were 
less likely than whites to be enrolled in college during the October when they 
were age 20.  Twenty-three percent of blacks and 20 percent of Hispanics had 
neither finished high school nor earned a GED by the October when they were 
age 20 compared with 13 percent of whites.  Moreover, 46 percent of whites 
were enrolled in college compared with 31 percent of blacks or Hispanics.
   
Schooling and Training between Ages 19 and 20
   
   The level of educational attainment when a person first left school does
not always indicate his or her final level of educational attainment.  Eleven 
percent of youths who were high school dropouts in the October they were age 
19 had graduated from high school or earned a GED by the following October.  
Whites who were dropouts in the October when age 19 were more likely than 
blacks or Hispanics to have graduated from high school or earned a GED by 
the following October.  (See table 2.)
   
   Some youths delay their college enrollment for a year or more after high
school and others enroll in college and then leave before earning a degree.  
Among high school graduates not enrolled in college during the October when 
they were age 19, 15 percent were enrolled in college during the following 
October.  Seventeen percent of youths attending college during the October 
when they were age 19 had left college by the following October while 82 
percent remained in college and 1 percent were enrolled in a training pro-
gram.
   
   Instead of attending school, some youths enroll in training to further
their skills.  Four percent of those who were high school dropouts in the
October when age 19 attended some kind of training or apprenticeship program 
during the October when they were age 20.  Likewise, 5 percent of high school 
graduates not enrolled in college at age 19 were enrolled in training at age 
20.
   
                                  - 3 -

Employment and Training at Age 20 of Youths Not Enrolled in School
   
   At age 20, labor force status differed substantially between high school
dropouts, high school graduates who had never attended college, and youths
who had left college.  High school dropouts were the least likely of these
groups to be employed during the October when they were age 20.  Black high
school dropouts were more likely not to be in the labor force than to be
employed.  Forty-two percent of black high school dropouts were employed or
in the Armed Forces during the October when they were age 20 compared with
54 percent of Hispanic high school dropouts and 63 percent of white dropouts.
(See table 3.)
   
   Seventy-one percent of high school graduates who had never enrolled in
college were employed in civilian jobs during the October when they were
age 20.  Another 6 percent were enlisted in the Armed Forces, 10 percent 
of male graduates and 2 percent of female graduates.  Among high school 
graduates who had some college experience but were not enrolled in college
during the October when they were age 20, 76 percent were employed in civil-
ian jobs and 5 percent were enlisted in the Armed Forces.  Women with
some college experience but no longer enrolled were more likely than their
male counterparts to be employed in civilian jobs; among high school dropouts 
and high school graduates who had never attended college, men were more likely 
than women to be employed in civilian jobs.
   
   Forty-two percent of high school dropouts were neither employed nor in
training during the October when they were age 20.  Fifty-six percent were
employed, including 3 percent who were both employed and enrolled in a
training program.  Another 2 percent of high school dropouts were enrolled
in training but not employed.  Among high school dropouts, women were more
likely than men to be neither employed nor in training.  Blacks were more
likely than whites or Hispanics to be neither employed nor in training.
(See table 4.)

   Among high school graduates not enrolled in college during the October
when they were age 20, 79 percent were employed, including 5 percent who
were both employed and enrolled in training.  About 1 percent were enrolled
in training but not employed; 20 percent were neither employed nor in a
training program.

Employment Attachment between Ages 19 and 20 of Youths Not Enrolled in
School

   Among youths who were not enrolled in school during the Octobers when
they were ages 19 or 20, employment status varied considerably by level of
educational attainment.  Twenty-eight percent of high school dropouts were
not employed in either October and 39 percent were employed in both Octobers.
Among high school graduates who were not enrolled in college in the Octobers 
when they were ages 19 or 20, 67 percent were employed in both Octobers and 
10 percent were employed in neither October.  (See table 5.)
   
   High school graduates not enrolled in college during the Octobers when
they were ages 19 or 20 were employed 78 percent of the weeks between the
October when they were age 19 and the following October.  By comparison,
high school dropouts were employed 55 percent of the weeks, on average,
between the October when they were age 19 and the following October.  Re-
gardless of the level of educational attainment, men were employed a larger 
percent of weeks than women and whites were employed a larger percent of 
weeks than blacks or Hispanics.  Men were more likely than women to work 40 
hours or more per week.  Male high school dropouts worked 40 hours or more 
43 percent of the weeks between the October when they were 19 and the follow-
ing October compared with 25 percent of weeks for female dropouts.  (See 
table 6.)



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Last Modified Date: January 25, 2008