Gender differences in the transition to adulthood: An examination of work and family patterns for two cohorts of high school graduates

Gender differences and the effects of social and economic changes on family and work patterns and economic outcomes of two cohorts of high school graduates making the transition to adulthood are explored. Data are from two national, longitudinal panel studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education on the high school graduating classes of 1972 and 1980. The report covers the first five years after high school. Gender differences of whites and blacks are analyzed separately. Results indicate lower economic returns for the later cohort, particularly for men, compared to the earlier cohort. White women were least likely to be affected in their family formation patterns by changes over the decade. More members of the 1972 cohort attained the transition to adult status than was the case for the 1980 cohort. White women of the 1980 cohort were more continuously employed than those of the 1972 cohort. Economic transformation has been particularly devastating on the marriage rates of black men and women of the 1980 cohort. Black and white women of the later cohort were more likely to be single parents than those of the 1972 cohort.