Most American youth hold a job at some point during adolescence, but should they work? This article presents a broad overview of teenage employment in the United States. It begins by describing which teenagers work and for how long and then focuses attention on the consequences (both good and bad) of paid work in adolescence. It then presents…

A long-standing critique of adolescent employment is that it engenders a precocious maturity of more adult-like roles and behaviors, including school disengagement, substance use, sexual activity, inadequate sleep and exercise, and work-related stress. Though negative effects of high-intensity work on adolescent adjustment have been found, little…

While the association between teenagers' work and academic performance continues to be debated in studies of adolescent employment, many researchers have found that "intensive" involvement in paid work increases the risk of high school dropout. It is still unclear, however, whether this relationship is spurious owing to preexisting differences in…

Whereas in years past, young people typically made a discrete transition from school to work, two ideal typical routes now characterize the sharing of school and work roles during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. Longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study show that one route involves less intensive employment during high…

Reviews five books that illustrate the diversity in the paths youth take as they move from adolescence to adulthood: "Opportunity and Uncertainty" (Anisef et al.), "Children on the Streets of the Americas" (Mickelson), "No Shame in My Game" (Newman), "The Exploited Child" (Schlemmer), and "The Ambitious Generation"(Schneider and Stevenson).…