This publication presents a portrait of transitions from initial education to working life in the United States. Section I details the distribution of students at two basic levels: K-12 and tertiary education. It introduces a recurring concern--the distribution of students by ethnicity and socioeconomic status--and details the declining importance of vocational education in secondary schools. Section II focuses on tertiary educational attainment and the rise and impact of a highly competitive market for college and university education. Section III narrows the focus by presenting a series of matrixes detailing the rate at which young people transit from school to work and back again. It examines the diminished prospects of high school dropouts and how questions of ethnicity and gender further complicate the picture. Section IV sketches principal changes in the labor market over the last 2 decades and the shifting employment practices now changing the context for the transition from initial education to working life. Section V provides detail on the workings of the youth labor market and discusses briefly churning in the youth labor market. Section VI focuses on employers' assessment of young workers. Section VII describes the major initiatives--public and private--now in place to facilitate the transition from initial education to working life. Section VIII looks ahead to a time when the United States might have a less robust economy. (40 references) (YLB)