The Effect of Family on the Job Exits of Young Adults

Abstract

This study examines the effect of family of origin and procreation on job exits for a sample of young White women and men (ages 18-24) between 1980 and 1986. Unlike much of the sociological literature that employs path analysis to examine occupational attainment at a small number of fixed points in time, this study employs event history analysis to examine family status factors and occupational attainment as dynamic processes. A competing risk model is used to estimate the effects of marriage and child status as well as socioeconomic status, age, and a set of control variables on two types of job exits: exits to school and exits for reasons other than school. For men the results indicate that marriage and children at job entry have a negative effect on both job exits to attend school and exits for reasons other than school. For women marriage and children at job entry have a negative effect on job exits to attend school but a positive effect on job exits for reasons other than school. For the most part, the effects of marriage on job exits were shown to be weaker than the effects of children. These findings suggest that despite the influx of women into the labor force during the 1980s, young women with children at job entry may have considered parenting rather than financial provision for their family to be their primary responsibility. The opposite holds true for young men.

Gender and work: The occupational expectations of young women and men in the 1990s

“…Aneshenel and Rosen (1980) point out that, "From a young age, traditionally socialized females are taught that their destiny is to be wife and mother and that these domestic roles should take precedence over all other roles, including occupational ones" (p. 122). Koenigsberg et al (1994), in a more recent analysis document a similar pattern: "Because childcare and domestic life responsibilities are carried, for the most part, by women ... women often experience role conflict as an expected consequence of a juggling act between family and work" (p. 56).…”

“…This is a transition that has become more extended and complex (Looker and Dwyer, 1998). It is a transition that many youth define as pivotal to a claim for adult status (Koenigsberg et al, 1994). Recognising that different cohorts experience this transition in different ways, it is important to examine the nature of this transition for youth in the 1990s.…”

Family roles and work values: Processes of selection and change

“…On average, fathers work longer hours than nonfathers and mothers work shorter hours than nonmothers (Kaufman & Uhlenberg, 2000). Over time, parenthood decreases the probability of men's exits from jobs and increases the probability of women's exits (Koenigsberg, Garet, & Rosenbaum, 1994).…”

Work-Family Conflict: The Effects of Religious Context on Married Women’s Participation in the Labor Force

“…Studies have also shown that work-family conflict increases when there are young children present in the home [17]. When faced with these growing demands from both work and family, women often choose to lessen their employment workload [5] and some choose to exit the workforce entirely [6]. When faced with these factors, women must enact a strategy for handling the work-family conflict.…”

“…Faced with these demands, many women are decreasing the amount they work or merely exiting the labor force altogether [5,6]. The strategies women employ OPEN ACCESS when faced with these work-family conflicts are not chosen in isolation, but are embedded within larger cultural frameworks [1,7].…”