Adolescents' School Enrollment and Employment: Effect of State Welfare Policies. JCPR Working Paper.

This study hypothesizes that stringent welfare policies may promote school enrollment and reduce employment among adolescents from low-income, single parent, and welfare families. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort, combined with state-level data sources, this analysis uses a dynamic model to study school and work transitions of adolescents and separates out the welfare policies from the non-welfare state policies, youth-specific local labor market conditions, and unobserved state characteristics and period effects. The study also explores the positive and negative effects that parents' (especially mothers') transition to work may have on adolescents' decisions concerning school enrollment and employment. Findings from this study indicate that in states with stringent welfare policies, low-income adolescent students are less likely to get or keep a job while in school than their counterparts in states with less stringent welfare policies. Though focusing entirely on schooling may be the best way for low-income youth to build human capital, the study points out that not having a formal job may prevent adolescents from acquiring the skills necessary to obtain and keep a job in the future. The analysis also suggests that, though the positive effects of parental employment in terms of influence and self-esteem may be significant, the family process whereby mothers enter the workforce may impose stress and lead to detrimental outcomes for adolescents, especially those who have dropped out of school. (Contains 40 references.) (SM)