Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market Activity, and Earnings Growth Among the Youngest Baby Boomers: Results From a Longitudinal Survey Summary

Technical information:  (202) 691-7410     USDL  06-1496
               http://www.bls.gov/nls/
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         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 10.5
jobs from age 18 to age 40, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the U.S. Department of Labor.  Nearly three-fifths of these jobs were held
from ages 18 to 25.
   
   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 39 to 48 when interviewed most recently in
2004-05.  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 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 10.5 jobs from
     ages 18 to 40.  These baby boomers held an average of 3.8 jobs while 
     ages 18 to 21.  The average fell to 3.0 jobs while ages 22 to 25 and 
     to 2.0 jobs from ages 36 to 40.  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 40 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 36 to 40, 36 percent ended in 
     less than a year and 72 percent ended in fewer than 5 years.

   --The average person was employed during 77 percent of the weeks from
     age 18 to age 40.  Generally, men spent a larger percent of weeks em-
     ployed than did women (85 versus 70 percent).  Women spent much more 
     time out of the labor force (26 percent of weeks) than did men (10 per-
     cent 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.

                                  - 2 -

Number of Jobs Held
   
   Individuals held an average of 10.5 jobs from ages 18 to 40, with the
majority of the jobs being held before age 31.  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 10.7 jobs and women held 10.3 jobs from age 18
to age 40.  Men held 3.9 jobs from age 18 to age 21 compared with 2.1 jobs
from age 36 to age 40.  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 11.2 jobs from ages 18 to 40 compared to 10.4
jobs for similarly educated men.  Women with less than a high school di-
ploma held an average of 8.6 jobs.  Men without a high school diploma held 
12.0 jobs from ages 18 to 40, 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 40, whites held more jobs than
either blacks or Hispanics or Latinos.  The difference is most pronounced
at younger ages.  These differences in racial and ethnic groups disappeared
at older ages; from ages 36 to 40, whites, blacks, and Hispanics or Latinos
all held an average of about 2.0 jobs.
   
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 21, 73 percent of those jobs ended in less
than a year and 95 percent ended in fewer than 5 years.  Among jobs started 
by workers when they were ages 36 to 40, 36 percent ended in less than a year 
and 72 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 em-
ployed during 77 percent of all the weeks occurring from age 18 to age
40.  They were unemployed--that is, without jobs but actively 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 edu-
cational-attainment groups, especially among blacks and Hispanics or
Latinos.  Blacks with less than a high school diploma (as of the 2004-05
survey) spent 54 percent of weeks employed and 34 percent of weeks out of
the labor force from age 18 to age 40.  By comparison, black high school
graduates spent 67 percent of weeks employed and 23 percent of weeks out of
the labor force.  Hispanic or Latino high school dropouts spent 60 percent
of weeks employed compared with 72 percent of weeks for Hispanic or Latino
high school graduates.  White high school dropouts spent 69 percent of 
weeks employed and white high school graduates spent 80 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 15 to 16 percent of weeks out of the 
labor force.

                                  - 3 -
   
   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
77 percent of weeks employed from age 18 to age 40.  These men also spent 
9 percent of weeks unemployed.  By comparison, women with less than a high
school diploma spent just 48 percent of weeks employed and 6 percent of
weeks unemployed from age 18 to age 40.  Women without a high school diplo-
ma spent nearly as much time out of the labor force (46 percent of weeks) 
as they did employed (48 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 propor-
tion of weeks employed than did women (85 versus 78 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 unem-
ployed or not in the labor force falling as individuals grow older. From 
ages 18 to 21, men spent 22 percent of weeks out of the labor force and 
women spent 34 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 36 to 40, 
these men spent only 6 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.  After age 21, women spent, 
on average, two and a half to four times as many weeks out of the labor force 
as men of their same generation.  Women in the age groups 22 to 25 and 26 to 
30 each spent 26 percent of weeks out of the labor force.  Women ages 31 to 
35 spent 24 percent of weeks out of the labor force and women ages 36 to 40 
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 6.3 percent per
year from ages 18 to 21 and 6.5 percent per year from ages 22 to 25.  The
earnings growth rate slowed to 4.0 percent annually from age 26 to age 30,
then to 3.6 percent annually from age 31 to age 35.  From ages 36 to 40,
hourly earnings grew an average of 2.5 percent per year.  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.)