2014 Employment Experience of Youths: Results from a Longitudinal Survey — 2014-03-26

Young adults born in the early 1980s held an average of 6.2 jobs from age 18 through age 26, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over two-thirds of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 22. 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 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 26 to 32 when interviewed for the 15th time in 2011-12. The survey provides information on work and nonwork experiences, training, schooling, income, assets, and other characteristics.