This release of the latest data from the longitudinal survey focuses on the number of jobs held, job duration, labor force participation, and earnings growth. Highlights from the survey include:
-Individuals born from 1957 to 1964 held an average of 10.8 jobs from ages 18 to 42. These baby boomers held an average of 4.4 jobs while ages 18 to 22. The average fell to 3.3 jobs while ages 23 to 27 and to 1.9 jobs from ages 38 to 42. Jobs that span more than one age group were counted once in each age group, so the overall average number of jobs held from age 18 to age 42 is less than the sum of the number of jobs across the individual age groups.
-Although job duration tends to be longer the older a worker is when starting the job, these baby boomers continued to have large numbers of short-duration jobs even as they approached middle age. Among jobs started by workers when they were ages 38 to 42, 31 percent ended in less than a year, and 65 percent ended in fewer than 5 years.
-The average person was employed during 77 percent of the weeks from age 18 to age 42. Generally, men spent a larger percent of weeks employed than did women (84 versus 70 percent). Women spent much more time out of the labor force (25 percent of weeks) than did men (10 percent of weeks).
-The annual percent growth in inflation-adjusted hourly earnings was fastest when workers were in their late teens and early twenties. Growth rates in earnings generally were higher for college graduates than for workers with less education.
Number of Jobs Held
Individuals held an average of 10.8 jobs from ages 18 to 42, with the majority of the jobs being held before age 27. In this report, a job is defined as an uninterrupted period of work with a particular employer. (See the Technical Note for additional information on the definition of a job.) On average, men held 11.0 jobs and women held 10.6 jobs from age 18 to age 42. Men held 4.6 jobs from age 18 to age 22, compared with 2.0 jobs from age 38 to age 42. The reduction in the average number of jobs held in successive age groups was similar for women.
On average, college-educated women held more jobs than women without a college degree and also held more jobs than college-educated men. Women with a college degree held 11.5 jobs from ages 18 to 42, compared to 10.7 jobs for similarly educated men. Women with less than a high school diploma held an average of 8.7 jobs. Men without a high school diploma held 12.5 jobs from ages 18 to 42, a higher average than men or women with more education.
Differences in the number of jobs held also are apparent between race and ethnicity groups. From age 18 to age 42, whites held more jobs than blacks or Hispanics or Latinos. The difference is concentrated among 18- to 22-year-olds.
Duration of Employment Relationships
The length of time a worker remains with the same employer increases with the age at which the worker began the job. Of the jobs that workers began when they were ages 18 to 22, 72 percent of those jobs ended in less than a year and 94 percent ended in fewer than 5 years. Among jobs started by workers when they were ages 38 to 42, 31 percent ended in less than a year and 65 percent ended in fewer than 5 years.
Percent of Weeks Employed, Unemployed, and Not in the Labor Force
On average, the baby boomers represented by the survey sample were employed during 77 percent of all the weeks occurring from age 18 to age 42. They were unemployed-that is, without jobs but seeking work-5 percent of the weeks. They were not in the labor force-that is, neither working nor seeking work-18 percent of the weeks.
The amount of time spent employed differs substantially between educational-attainment groups, especially among blacks and Hispanics or Latinos. Blacks with less than a high school diploma (as of the 2006-07 survey) spent 53 percent of weeks employed and 34 percent of weeks out of the labor force from age 18 to age 42. By comparison, black high school graduates spent 65 percent of weeks employed and 24 percent of weeks out of the labor force. Hispanic or Latino high school dropouts spent 61 percent of weeks employed, compared with 71 percent of weeks for Hispanic or Latino high school graduates. White high school dropouts spent 70 percent of weeks employed, and white high school graduates spent 79 percent of weeks employed. Among college graduates, there was little difference between racial and ethnic groups in labor market attachment; each group spent 80 to 82 percent of weeks employed and 14 to 15 percent of weeks out of the labor force.
The amount of time spent in the labor force also differs by sex, with women at every educational level and at every age spending fewer weeks in the labor force than men. Men with less than a high school diploma spent 76 percent of weeks employed from age 18 to age 42. These men also spent 9 percent of weeks unemployed. By comparison, women with less than a high school diploma spent just 50 percent of weeks employed and 6 percent of weeks unemployed from age 18 to age 42. Women without a high school diploma spent nearly as much time out of the labor force (44 percent of weeks) as they did employed (50 percent of weeks). The differences between men and women in labor force attachment were much smaller among those with a bachelor's degree or more education, but men still spent a larger proportion of weeks employed than did women (86 versus 79 percent).
Labor force attachment is related to age for both men and women, with the percent of weeks employed increasing and the percent of weeks unemployed or not in the labor force falling as individuals grow older. From ages 18 to 22, men spent 21 percent of weeks out of the labor force and women spent 32 percent of weeks out of the labor force. This age range is a period when large proportions of men and women attend college or receive vocational training, and, as a result, they spend less time in the labor force than they eventually will. Indeed, from ages 38 to 42, these men spent only 8 percent of weeks out of the labor force, and women spent 21 percent of weeks out of the labor force.
Like men, women were more likely to participate in the labor force as they aged, but the reduction in the percent of weeks spent out of the labor force was much smaller among women than among men. In fact, after age 22, women spent, on average, about three times as many weeks out of the labor force as their male counterparts. Women ages 23 to 27 and 28 to 32 each spent 26 percent of weeks out of the labor force. Women ages 33 to 37 spent 24 percent of weeks out of the labor force, and women ages 38 to 42 spent 21 percent of weeks out of the labor force.
Percent Growth in Real Earnings
The inflation-adjusted earnings of workers increased most rapidly while they were young. Hourly earnings grew by an average of 7.0 percent per year from ages 18 to 22 and 5.3 percent per year from ages 23 to 27. The earnings growth rate slowed to 3.1 percent annually from age 28 to age 32, then to 3.6 percent annually from age 33 to age 37. From ages 38 to 42, hourly earnings grew an average of 1.4 percent per year. Earnings growth was stagnant for 38- to 42-year-olds with a high school diploma or less education. This pattern in earnings growth reflects, in part, the state of the U.S. economy during the years in which survey participants were in each age group. For men and women in nearly every age category, growth rates in inflation-adjusted hourly earnings generally were higher for workers with more education.
