Explaining the Motherhood Wage Penalty During the Early Occupational Career

Prior research shows that mothers earn lower hourly wages than women without children, and that this maternal wage penalty cannot be fully explained by differences between mothers and other women in work experience and job characteristics. This research examines whether the residual motherhood wage penalty results from differences between mothers and other women in the accumulation of work interruptions and breaks in schooling. Using longitudinal data for 486 women followed from ages 19 to 31 in the Minnesota Youth Development Study, we find that accumulated months not in the labor force and not enrolled in school explain the residual pay gap between mothers and other women.     

A Further Examination of the “Occupational Linkage Hypothesis”*

In response to Lueptow, McClendon, and McKeon's (1979) recent criticisms of the “occupational linkage hypothesis,” we estimate a modified linkage model, using data obtained from a panel of male college graduates over a ten-year period. The findings indicate differences in the processes of socialization and occupational attainment depending on the character (business vs. professional) of the father's occupation. Specifically, paternal support was more strongly related to sons' extrinsic values in the business sector and to sons' intrinsic and people–oriented value orientations in the professional origin group. The distinctive patterns of value socialization persisted when socioeconomic status and grade point average were controlled. Extension of the linkage model to include sons' adult attainments indicates that the work values transmitted in the family have important implications for sons' occupational outcomes. Consideration of the discrepancy between these findings and those of other studies suggests that future investigators of the “occupational linkage hypothesis” should more closely attend to the socialization process, as it impinges on the child, and to the character of the linkages between parental work characteristics and children's psychological attributes.     

The publishing of recent economics Ph.D. recipients

We present publication data for recent graduates of 50 economics Ph.D. programs. The data show that publishing output is highly concentrated among graduates of the top programs; the top three programs, for example, generate more than 25% of aggregate publishing output in our sample. We use the data to construct a set of program rankings based on both per capita and aggregate graduate publication and a comparison of faculty performance to graduate performance. The graduate/faculty comparison reveals that programs may be identical in the output of their faculties but starkly different in the output of their graduates.     

Segmented generation mortality

For a clear understanding of the inherent changes in mortality with advance in age, it is necessary to observe the experience of generations rather than the cross-section of period experience. In fact, the latter may produce a misleading picture as can be illustrated in the case of tuberculosis. Period experience pointed to a rise in tuberculosis death rates with advance in age, whereas generation experience indicates a decline with aging, The present paper proposes the study of mortality changes of all generations existing at one period to a subsequent period. Some characteristics and trends in the changes in generation mortality of white males and white females since 1900 are discussed. It is pointed out, in particular, that since World War II white males have been experiencing a rapidly increasing rise in generation mortality with the approach of midlife. A comparison of generation mortality changes from 1950 to 1960 among countries of traditionally low mortality shows that only males in the other English-speaking countries may be undergoing the same experience as white males in the United States upon the approach of midlife. It is not evident in the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands and in the other countries. The reason for these differences is not apparent.     

Conclusions: Adolescents' Preparation for the Future

The future of societies depends on their success in providing pathways whereby young people develop and prepare themselves to be contributing adults to their communities. When these pathways are well marked, stable, supported by the community, and inviting to adolescents, a society can be confident that new generations will join the ranks of adulthood well prepared. When these paths are hazardous, unpredictable, uninviting, or ill fitted to the demands of adulthood in that society, the future is insecure, both for adolescents and for society. This volume and the additional two volumes of this study group (Brown, Larson, && Saraswathi, 2002; Mortimer && Brown, 2002) suggest the following observations about the experiences of youth and how well they are being prepared for adulthood in the 21st century.     

ADOLESCENT WORK AND BOYS' AND GIRLS' ORIENTATIONS TO THE FUTURE

This study compares adolescent boys' and girls' aspirations and plans concerning achievement, family, and other adult life spheres, and examines the effects of adolescent work experience on these future orientations. The data were obtained from 1001 students, chosen randomly from a list of enrolled ninth graders in a large Midwestern city. Girls were not found to have lower achievement orientations than boys. Examination of the interrelations of achievement and family plans suggests that boys see their future educational, work, and family roles as more closely integrated than do girls. Just as work and family roles are mutually supportive for adult men but in conflict for adult women, so too do employed adolescent boys appear to be developing traditional family orientations, while employed girls, especially those much exposed to formal work, expect less involvement in marriage and family life. The analyses indicate that paid work is traditionalizing for boys, promoting optimism about, and commitment to, numerous adult life domains; but for girls, formal work lessens interest in traditional female gender roles.