Paid Work in Early Adolescence:

Abstract

Descriptive data on paid work performed both by White and African American students in Baltimore were collected as part of a more extensive longitudinal study. More than one-half of the youth worked for pay during the school year at 13 and 14 years of age, and around 70% worked during the summers. Those who started work the earliest were those who had done more chores at home. Patterns of work by these relatively low socioeconomic status (SES) students are consistent with patterns of youth employment in other parts of the country. For example, rates of employment for African American youth were lower than for White youth. Despite weaker academic records, the lowest SES African American boys at 13 years of age held proportionately more of the semi-skilled jobs (clerical, sales, and craft) than did White students of either gender or African American girls. The findings are discussed in a life course framework.