High School Employment: Consumption or Investment

During the middle 1970s, a number of prestigious commissions convened to study the problems of adolescents (e.g. President's Science Advisory Committee, 1974; National Commission on the Reform of Secondary Education, 1973; National Panel on High Schools and Adolescent Education, 1975) reached the common conclusion that additional early work experience would foster the development of personal responsibility, smooth the transition from the youth to adulthood, and improve educational performance and occupational attainment. Shortly thereafter, a number of federal initiatives (e.g. the Career Education Incentive Act of 1977) were passed with the goal of increasing the employment experience of youths.