Changes in the Characteristics of American Youth: Implications for Adult Outcomes

Joseph Altonji, Prashant Bharadwaj and Fabian Lange

No 13883, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine changes in the characteristics of American youth between the late 1970s and the late 1990s, with a focus on characteristics that matter for labor market success. We reweight the NLSY79 to look like the NLSY97 along a number of dimensions that are related to labor market success, including race, gender, parental background, education, test scores, and variables that capture whether individuals transition smoothly from school to work. We then use the re-weighted sample to examine how changes in the distribution of observable skills affect employment and wages. We also use more standard regression methods to assess the labor market consequences of differences between the two cohorts. Overall, we find that the current generation is more skilled than the previous one. Blacks and Hispanics have gained relative to whites and women have gained relative to men. However, skill differences within groups have increased considerably and in aggregate the skill distribution has widened. Changes in parental education seem to generate many of the observed changes

JEL-codes: J01 J11 J15 J16 J31 J82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
Note: CH LS
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Published as Joseph G. Altonji & Prashant Bharadwaj & Fabian Lange, 2012. "Changes in the Characteristics of American Youth: Implications for Adult Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(4), pages 783 - 828.

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