Educational Credentials and Earnings Portfolios of Justice-Involved Adolescents During the Transition to Adulthood

• In Event: Transitions to Adulthood: How Institutional Support, Education, Intimate Relationships, and Marriage Impact the Life Course

Abstract

Extant literature suggests that justice-involved adolescents have lower educational credentials, lower formal labor market earnings, and are more likely to experience justice system contact in adulthood. Due to a principal focus on the high school diploma versus no high school diploma distinction and formal labor market earnings, overlooked is 1) the GED, a common educational credential for justice-involved individuals, and 2) broader earnings portfolios including alternative income sources, such as under-the-table and illicit sources, which may trigger subsequent justice system involvement. As such, there is much to learn about educational credential heterogeneity and the earnings portfolios of justice-involved adolescents during the transition to adulthood. Using The Pathways to Desistance, a sample of justice-involved adolescents, I address whether educational credentials – high school diploma, GED, and no high school equivalent – are associated with differences in earnings portfolios during the transition to adulthood. Preliminary results suggest that high school graduates are more likely than their counterparts to report participation in the formal labor market, higher formal labor market earnings, and a greater share of earnings from formal labor market sources. The earnings portfolios of GED recipients and those without a high school equivalent are largely indistinguishable. Theoretical and policy implications will be discussed.

Author

• Brandy R. Parker, The Pennsylvania State University