Youth Employment

Youth employment is the norm in American society. Approximately 80% of youth report holding jobs during their high school years (National Research Council, 1998). Entry into the labor market often begins early, with about half of youth ages 12 and 13 reporting that they work (Rothstein & Herz, 2000). Although statistics are gathered regularly about youth employment in the general population, comparatively little was known about employment patterns of youth with disabilities until the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) collected data from 1987 to 1990 (see footnote 1). The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) (see footnote 2) began updating and expanding data on youth with disabilities in 2001, including information on employment. Information reported here comes from telephone interviews and a mail survey conducted in 2001 with parents and guardians of youth with disabilities, and from comparisons made with 1987 NLTS employment data. Findings from NLTS2 are generalizable to youth with disabilities nationally who were 13 to 16 years old in December of 2000, and to each of 12 federal disability categories and to each age group (e.g., all 13-year-old students with disabilities, all 14-year-old students with disabilities, etc.). According to parents' reports, almost 60% of youth with disabilities are employed during a 1-year period -- some at work-study jobs, but the vast majority at non-school-related jobs.