The Transition from School to Work

Because much of the concern about youth unemployment is motivated by the large differences between the rates for blacks and whites, we have pursued our earlier work by analyzing separately for black and white youth the relationship between high school preparation and early labor force experience. We find no striking differences between the determinants of weeks worked by whites and non-whites upon graduation from high school. Although vocational training in high school bears little relationship to weeks worked upon graduation, hours worked while in high school bear a strong relationship to later employment for students and non-students, white and non-white. Academic performanceas measured by standardized test scores and high school class rank isalso positively related to later weeks worked by non-students, both white and non-white. Young persons find jobs in large part through friends and relatives or through direct application to employers orpossibly a combination of the two. Persons who are not looking forwork--and would then be classified as out of the labor force, according to standard definitions--are apparently quite distinct from personswho are looking for work. Those out of