2020 Employment Experience of Youths: Results from a Longitudinal Survey — 2022-03-29

Americans born in the early 1980s held an average of 8.6 jobs from age 18 through age 34, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. These adults held more jobs at younger ages: they held an average of 5.1 jobs from ages 18 to 23, compared with 2.1 jobs from ages 30 to 34. While ages 18 to 34, women with more education held more jobs than women with less education. Regardless of education, men held a similar number of jobs. These findings are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a nationally representative survey of about 9,000 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 34 to 40 when interviewed for the 19th time in 2019-20. The survey provides information on work and non-work experiences, training, schooling, income, assets, health, and other characteristics.