Evidence on Youth Employment, Earnings, and Parental Transfers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997

The employment behavior of youths under age 16 has been neglected in the literature. This paper uses data from the new National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to examine the employment and earning behavior of youths aged 12-16 as well as the cash transfers received from their parents. Nearly half the youths (47 percent) earned income in 1996. As youths age, the amount of money they control increases as earnings grow faster than allowances. Results also suggest that a negative relationship exists both between youth employment and parental allowances and between earnings and parental allowances for youths aged 14-16.