Abstract
In this paper, we analyse part-time employment of teenagers still in full-time education, their academic performance, and their school leaving decisions. Our estimation strategy takes account of the possible interdependencies of these events and distinguishes between two alternative states to full time education: entering the labour force full time and going on to further training. We model this decision in a flexible way. Our analysis is based on data from the UK National Child Development Study, which has an unusually rich set of variables on school and parental characteristics. Our main finding is that working part time while in full-time education has only small adverse effects on exam performance for females, and no effects for males. The effect of part-time work on the decision to stay on at school is also negative, but small, and marginally significant for males, but not for females. Other important determinants of exam success as well as the continuation decision are parental ambitions about the child’s future academic career.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Becker GS (1981) A treatise on the family. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Becker GS, Lewis HG (1973) On the interaction between the quantity and quality of children. J Polit Econ 81 Suppl S279-S288
Behrman JR, Taubman P(1986) Birth order, schooling and earnings. J Labor Econ 4:S121-S145
Black S, Devereux P, Salvanes KG (2005) The more the merrier? The effect of family size and birth order on children’s education. Quart J Econ 120:669-700
Booth, AL, Satchell SE (1994) Apprenticeships and job tenure. Oxford Econ Papers 46:676-695
Card D, Krueger A (1992) Does school quality matter? Returns to education and the characteristics of public schools in the United States. J Polit Econ 100:1-40
Coleman JS (1966) Equality of educational opportunity, Washington
Currie J, Thomas D (1999) Early test scores, socio-economic status and future outcomes. Res Labor Econ 20:103-132
Davie R (1971) Size of class, educational attainment and adjustment. Concern, No. 7, 8-14
Dearden L, Ferri J and Meghir C (2002) The effect of school quality on educational attainment and wages. Rev Econ Statist 84:1-20
Dolton P and Vignoles A (2000) The impact of school quality on labour market success in the United Kingdom mimeo, University of Newcastl
Dustmann C (2004) Parental background, secondary school track choice, and wages. Oxford Econ Papers 56:209-230
Dustmann C, Rajah N, van Soest A (2003) Class size, education, and wages. Econ J 113:F99-F120
Eckstein Z, Wolpin K (1999) Why youth drop out of high school: the impact of preferences, opportunities and abilities. Econometrica 67:1295-1339
Ehrenberg RG, Sherman DR (1987) Employment while in college, academic achievement and post college outcomes. J Human Resour 22:1-23
Feinstein L, Symons J (1999) Attainment in secondary school. Oxford Economic Papers, 51: 300-321
Griliches Z (1980) Schooling interruption, work while in school and the returns from schooling. Scand J Econ 82:291-303
Harmon C, Walker I (2000) The returns to the quantity and quality of education: evidence for men in England and Wales. Econ 67:19-36
Hanushek EA (1992) The trade off between child quantity and quality. J Polit Econ 100:84-117
Hanushek EA, Rivkin SG, Taylor LL (1996) Aggregation and the estimated effects of school resources. Rev Econ Statist 78:611-627
Hotz VJ, Xu LC, Tienda M, Ahituv A (2002) Are there returns to the wages of young men from working while in school? Rev Econ Statist 84:221-236
Light A (2001) In-school work experience and the return to schooling. J Labor Econ 19:65-93
MacLennan E, Fitz J, Sullivan S (1985) Working children. Low Pay Unit, London
Micklewright J (1986) A note on household income data in ncds3, ncds user support working paper, vol 18, City University, London
Micklewright J (1989) Choice at 16. Economica 56:25-39
Micklewright J, Pearson M, Smith R (1989) Has Britain an early school leaving problem? Fiscal Stud 10:1-16
Micklewright J, Rajah N, Smith S (1994) Labouring and learning: part-time work and full-time education. Nat Inst Econ Rev 2:73-85
Pradhan M, van Soest A (1995) Formal and informal sector employment in urban areas in Bolivia. Labour Econ 2:275-298
Rice PG (1987) The demand for post-compulsory education in the UK and the effects of educational maintenance allowances. Economica 54:465-476
Robertson D, Symons J (1990) The occupational choice of british children. Econ J 100:828-841
Robertson D, Symons J (1996) Do peer groups matter? Peer group versus schooling effects on aca- demic attainment. London School of Economics, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No. 311
Ruhm C (1997) Is high school employment consumption of investment? J Labor Econ 14: 735-776
Sly F (1993) Economic activity of 16 and 17 year olds. Employment Gazette, July, pp. 307-312
Steedman J (1983) Examination results in selective and non-selective schools. National Children’s Bureau, London
Stewart M (1983) On least squares estimation when the dependent variable is grouped. Rev Econ Stud 50:737-753
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dustmann, C., van Soest, A. (2008). Part-time work, school success and school leaving. In: Dustmann, C., Fitzenberger, B., Machin, S. (eds) The Economics of Education and Training. Studies in Empirical Economics. Physica-Verlag HD. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2022-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2022-5_3
Publisher Name: Physica-Verlag HD
Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-2021-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-7908-2022-5
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)