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Title: A Dynamic Study of Young Women's Labor Market Transitions over the Early Life Course: Cohort Trends, Racial Differentials, and Determinants
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Phang, Hanam S.
A Dynamic Study of Young Women's Labor Market Transitions over the Early Life Course: Cohort Trends, Racial Differentials, and Determinants
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1995
Cohort(s): NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Employment; Family Characteristics; Family Constraints; Family Models; Fertility; Labor Force Participation; Life Course; Life Cycle Research; Racial Differences; Transition, Job to Job; Unions; Work Experience; Work History

Using detailed panel data (NLSY and NLSYW) on school, work, and family formation history, this study examines the longitudinal patterns of labor market transitions for young women in their 20's and 30's. The primary focus in this study is on transitions between employment and nonemployment status over the early life course after completion of school. Through the dynamic analyses of young women's labor market transitions this study (1) examines cohort changes in labor market participation and attachment over the last two decades; (2) examines the age pattern life-stage variation, and racial differences in labor market transitions; and (3) identifies the individual and structural determinants of the rate of transitions between employment and nonemployment among individuals. Multistate life tables are used to estimate cohort changes and racial differentials in women's labor market transitions at the population level; event history models are used to estimate the effects of individual and structural factors on the rate of transitions. This study shows, through cohort analyses, that there has been little change over cohorts in the depressing effect of women's family obligations on their employment stability and documents the "continuing interaction between women's family and work careers." With regard to racial differences in labor market transitions, this study shows that the racial differentials largely depend on women's family status and educational level and that the major component of the racial differential in employment chances is in the process of entering employment rather than in the process of leaving employment. Through multivariate analyses, this study documents that not only individual characteristics but also the structural factors of the labor market (i.e., the occupational category, sector, and union status of the job) significantly affect the rate and pattern of young women's transitions into and out of employment over the e arly life course. This study also finds that the rates of transitions between employment and nonemployment are significantly affected by individual's past work history and experiences. The hazard rate of transition is dependent not only on the duration of the current spell but also on the number and the duration of past spells of employment or nonemployment.
Bibliography Citation
Phang, Hanam S. A Dynamic Study of Young Women's Labor Market Transitions over the Early Life Course: Cohort Trends, Racial Differentials, and Determinants. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1995.