The Effects of Early Work Experience on Young Women's Labor Force Attachment

In this article, we examine women's labor force experience during the early life course in order to assess the conditions conducive to the establishment of stable labor force careers. To represent the complexity of women's work trajectories during young adulthood, we develop a conceptual framework that depicts a broad range of work activity profiles. Empirical results obtained using the NLSY show that three aspects of early experience influence mature women's labor force attachment, namely the amount of experience accumulated; the timing of work experience; and the volatility of that experience. Above and beyond these experience measures, we also find that background factors influence adult women's attachment to the market. The conclusion discusses the policy implications of these results.