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.) -------------------------------------------------------------------- | Email Notification about NLS Data | | | | BLS is currently offering timely email alerts about changes to | | the NLS program. About every 2 months, users can receive messages | | alerting them of NLS product updates including the NLS News news- | | letter, user conferences, data changes, and important NLS publica- | | tions. To subscribe, use the form at http://www.bls.gov/nls/nls_ | | subscribe.htm. | --------------------------------------------------------------------
- America's Youth at 20: School Enrollment, Training, and Employment Transitions between Ages 19 and 20 Technical Note
- Table 1. School enrollment status of youths during the October when ages 17 to 20 in 1997-2005 by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
- Table 2. School or training enrollment status during the October when age 20 in 2000-2005 by school enrollment status during the October when age 19, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
- Table 3. Employment status of youths not enrolled in school during the October when age 20 in 2000-2005 by high school graduation status, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
- Table 4. Employment and training status of youths not enrolled in school during the October when age 20 in 2000-2005 by high school graduation status, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
- Table 5. Employment status during the October when ages 19 and 20 in 1999-2005 of youths not enrolled in school at age 19 or 20 by high school graduation status, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
- Table 6. Percent of weeks employed or not employed between the October when ages 19 and 20 for youths not enrolled in school during October at ages 19 and 20 by high school graduation status, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
- Text version of entire news release
Table of Contents
Last Modified Date: January 25, 2008