For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, September 10, 2010 USDL-10-1243
Technical information: (202) 691-7410 * nls_info@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/nls
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
NUMBER OF JOBS HELD, LABOR MARKET ACTIVITY, AND
EARNINGS GROWTH AMONG THE YOUNGEST BABY BOOMERS:
RESULTS FROM A LONGITUDINAL SURVEY
The average person born in the latter years of the baby boom held 11 jobs
from age 18 to age 44, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
U.S. Department of Labor. More than three-fifths of these jobs were held
from ages 18 to 27.
These findings are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, a
survey of 9,964 men and women who were ages 14 to 22 when first interviewed
in 1979 and ages 43 to 52 when interviewed most recently during the 2008-09
period. These respondents were born in the years 1957 to 1964, the latter
years of the baby boom that occurred in the United States from 1946 to 1964.
The survey spans 3 decades and provides information on work and nonwork ex-
periences, education, training, income and assets, health, and other charac-
teristics. The information provided by respondents, who were interviewed
annually from 1979 to 1994 and biennially since 1994, can be considered re-
presentative of all men and women born in the late 1950s and early 1960s
and living in the United States when the survey began in 1979.
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 11 jobs from age
18 to age 44. These baby boomers held an average of 4.4 jobs while ages
18 to 22. The average number of jobs held fell to 3.2 while ages 23 to
27 and to 2.6 while ages 28 to 32. These individuals held an average of
2.4 jobs while ages 33 to 38 and 2.0 jobs while ages 39 to 44. Jobs that
span more than one age group were counted once in each age group, so the
over-all average number of jobs held from age 18 to age 44 is less than
the sum of the number of jobs across the individual age groups. (See
table 1.)
--Although job duration tends to be longer the older a worker is when start-
ing the job, these baby boomers continued to have large numbers of short-
duration jobs even at middle age. Among jobs started by 39- to 44-year-
olds, 33 percent ended in less than a year, and 68 percent ended in fewer
than 5 years.(See table 2.)
--The average person was employed during 77 percent of the weeks from age
18 to age 44. 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 (11 percent of weeks). (See
tables 3 and 4.)
--The annual percent growth in inflation-adjusted hourly earnings was fast-
est 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. (See table 5.)
Number of Jobs Held
Individuals held an average of 11 jobs from age 18 to age 44, with the majority
of the jobs being held before age 27. In this report, a job is defined as an un-
interrupted period of work with a particular employer. (See the Technical Note
for additional information on the definition of a job.) On average, men held
11.4 jobs and women held 10.7 jobs from age 18 to age 44. Men held 4.5 jobs
from age 18 to age 22, compared with 2.0 jobs from age 39 to age 44. The re-
duction in the average number of jobs held in successive age groups was simi-
lar for women. (See table 1.)
On average, the least-educated men held more jobs than the most-educated men,
while the opposite is true among women. Men without a high school diploma held
13.3 jobs from ages 18 to 44, while men with a bachelor's degree or more edu-
cation held 11.0 jobs. Women with at least a bachelor's degree held 11.7 jobs
from ages 18 to 44, compared to an average of 9.7 jobs for women without a
high school diploma.
From age 18 to age 44, whites held more jobs than blacks or Hispanics or
Latinos, although the difference is concentrated among 18- to 22-year-olds.
On average, whites held 4.6 jobs between the ages of 18 and 22, while blacks
held 3.5 jobs and Hispanics or Latinos held 4.0 jobs. From age 23 to age 44,
there was no significant difference in the average number of jobs held by
whites and the average number of jobs held by blacks or Hispanics or Latinos.
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 18 to 22 years of age, 72 percent of those jobs ended in
less than a year and 94 percent ended in fewer than 5 years. Among jobs
started by 39- to 44-year-olds, 33 percent ended in less than a year and
68 percent ended in fewer than 5 years. (See table 2.)
Percent of Weeks Employed, Unemployed, and Not in the Labor Force
On average, the baby boomers represented by the survey sample were em-
ployed during 77 percent of all the weeks occurring from age 18 to age
44. They were unemployed--that is, without jobs but seeking work--4
percent of the weeks. They were not in the labor force--that is, nei-
ther working nor seeking work--18 percent of the weeks. (See table 3.)
The amount of time spent employed differs substantially between educa-
tional-attainment groups. Blacks with less than a high school diploma
(as of the 2008-09 survey) spent 47 percent of weeks employed from age
18 to age 44. By comparison, black high school graduates spent 68 per-
cent of weeks employed. Hispanic or Latino high school dropouts spent
59 percent of weeks employed, compared with 74 percent of weeks for
Hispanic or Latino high school graduates. White high school dropouts
spent 64 percent of weeks employed, and white high school graduates
spent 80 percent of weeks employed. Among those with a bachelor's de-
gree, there was little difference between racial and ethnic groups in
labor market attachment; each group spent 80 to 82 percent of weeks em-
ployed.
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
either employed or unemployed than men. Men with less than a high
school diploma spent 69 percent of weeks employed from age 18 to age
44. These men also spent 9 percent of weeks unemployed. By comparison,
women with less than a high school diploma spent 46 percent of weeks
employed and 7 percent of weeks unemployed from age 18 to age 44. Wo-
men without a high school diploma spent more time out of the labor
force, 47 percent of weeks, than employed. 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 pro-
portion of weeks employed than did women (86 versus 78 percent).
Labor force attachment varies by age for both men and women. The amount
of time men participated in the labor force increased as they aged until
peaking at 89 percent of weeks while ages 33 to 38. From ages 39 to 44,
men spent slightly less time in the labor force, 87 percent of weeks.
The amount of time women participated in the labor force increased in
each successive age group. Women ages 18 to 22 were employed or unem-
ployed 68 percent of weeks, compared with 78 percent of weeks while ages
39 to 44. (See table 4.)
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 6.8 percent per
year from ages 18 to 22 and by 5.2 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 increased to 3.5 percent annually from age 33 to age 38.
From ages 39 to 44, hourly earnings grew an average of 1.4 percent per
year. 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. Inflation-adjusted earnings actually de-
clined at a rate of 0.5 percent per year for 39- to 44-year-old men
with less than a high school diploma. (See table 5.)
