Aging in a Changing Economy: Skills in Adolescence and Employment Status at Midlife

Amanda Bosky , University of Texas at Austin

The ability to hold a job is crucial to economic success and overall wellbeing, and it may be particularly important at midlife when people accumulate the majority of their retirement savings. Studies that focus only on the contemporaneous correlates of employment status ignore the pre-labor market factors that prepare people for work across the life course. Using High School & Beyond sophomore cohort (HS&B:SO), we find that individuals’ math-related skills and locus of control at the end of high school are related to their employment status at midlife. The connections between skills in adolescence and employment at midlife operate partially through educational attainment and employment experiences but maintain an independent relationship, as well. These findings suggest that pre-labor market skills not only sort individuals into higher education and occupations but also may enable them to adapt to their circumstances to maintain an attachment to the workforce as they age.

See paper

 Presented in Session 67. The Short- and Long Terms Consequences of K–12 Educational Attainment