Summary of Findings: Work and Opportunity in the Post- Industrial Labor Market

A study was conducted to determine the long-term consequences of restructuring on the nature of work and mobility-in the United States. The study compared the first 16 years of work experience for two cohorts of young White men from the National Longitudinal Surveys: the original cohort, followed from 1996-1981, and the recent cohort, followed from 1979-1994. Some of the findings are as follows: (1) in recent years, young workers' transition to the labor market has become more volatile and is also taking longer; (2) job instability has increased for young workers ,during the 1980s and early 1990s; (3) as a result of this higher job instability, youth in recent years have worked for more employers and have shorter tenures with one employers; (4) the recent cohort has failed to capture the all-important wage gains from early job searching, and the gains have become more unequal; and (5) wages are declining and wage mobility is more unequal. The study concluded that, on average, about two-thirds of job changes and wage growth occur during the first decade of labor market experience. Without a dramatic shift in the economy, therefore, the recent cohort can expect lower and more unequal lifetime wage growth than their predecessors. (Contains 20 references) (KC) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** Oatabb ceD ODD flflLIJ LADE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office f Educational Research and Improvement EDU ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Summary of Findings: Work and Opportunity in the PostIndustrial Labor Market Annette Bernhardt Martina Morris Mark Handcock Marc Scott EEE Working Paper No. 6 February 1998 Summary of Findings: Work and Opportunity in the PostIndustrial Labor Market Annette Bernhardt Martina Morris Mark Handcock Marc Scott IFF. Working Paper No. 6 February 1998 This is a condensed and non-technical summary of a large-scale research project. Detailed findings can be found in the following 1998 IEE working papers: "Inequality and Mobility: Trends in Wage Growth for Young Adults," IEE Working Paper #7, and "Trends in Job Instability and Wages for Young Adult Men," IEE Working Paper #8. Annette Bernhardt and Marc Scott are senior research associates at the Institute on Education and the Economy. Martina Morris is professor of sociology and Mark Handcock is professor of statistics at Pennsylvania State University. The authors would like to thank the Russell Sage and Rockefeller Foundations for their generous support. We are also grateful for the comments and suggestions given to us by Peter Gottschalk, Robert Mare, Charles Brown, Maury Gittleman, Francine Blau, Lawrence Kahn, David Neumark, Sheldon Danziger, Henry Farber, Thomas Lemieux, and Thomas Bailey.