Youth Unemployment and Career Scarring: Social-Psychological Mediating Effects?

Unemployment has career scarring effects for adults, and sometimes for youth, but previous research has not directly demonstrated how this occurs. This 14-year (1985-99) longitudinal study reveals that cumulative unemployment between age 18 and age 32 has a negative effect on both total income and quality of employment at age 32. This scarring effect is not mediated by parallel changes in self-esteem, perceived control or extrinsic work values. Labour market mechanisms, rather than social psychological processes, are likely responsible for the career scarring effect of youth unemployment.