Work Expectations, Human Capital Accumulation, and the Wages of Young Women

Abstract

This article estimates the impact that young women's ex ante preferences for future labor force attachment have on their human capital accumulation and pay. Empirical evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women aged 14 to 24 in 1968 supports the human capital hypothesis that receipt of on-the-job training is positively related to expectations of future labor force participation. Comparing the actual labor force attachment of mature women with preferences for future participation of young women indicates that young women (as a group) may underestimate their future labor force attachment. This implies that some young women may underinvest in on-the-job training.