Young people in Norway who had a summer or part-time job as 17-year-olds earn almost NOK 100 a year more as adults than their peers who did not have such a job.
“Working part-time for a young person seems to be a very rewarding career advancement,” says Senior Adviser Jon Epland.
It tracked the income development of the group born in 1987 to the age of 34 in 2021. In 2004, when the group was 17 years old, 2 out of 3 had more or less summer or part-time work and thus had a professional income recorded in the tax return. This percentage was slightly higher for girls than for boys.
In 2021, when the group turned 34, the median occupational income for men who had a job in their youth was NOK 632, while for those who were unemployed as 000-year-olds it was NOK 17. This corresponds to a difference of NOK 535.
– When the group was 25 years old, the professional income of both groups was NOK 138. Over time, the gap has narrowed somewhat, but it is still significant, says Jon Epland.
The researcher finds the same development among women, but the difference is slightly smaller at NOK 82.
"We found the same income differences between those who had a job as 17-year-olds and those who didn't in both the 1989 and 1991 groups," Epland points out.
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Many who did not work as young people do not work as adults either
While not having a part-time or holiday job as a young person is often not seen as a big problem in itself, there are still clear social differences between people with and without work experience.
“To some extent, the lack of connection to working life at a young age may actually be an early indicator of alienation later in life,” says Epland.
The income gap between working and unemployed people aged 17 is partly due to the fact that many people who did not have a small-time job at 17 also do not have an income-producing job as adult 34-year-olds in 2021.
About 15 percent of all women who were out of work at 17 also had no work income in 2021, while only 6 percent of women who were in work at 17 were the same. Among men, there is a similar difference of 13%. compared to 5 percent. for those who had a job in their youth and for those who did not.
More people with disabilities among those who did not have summer jobs
There may also be health-related explanations why those who were out of work as 17-year-olds lag behind in income development as adults.
“The group who were out of work at age 17 were twice as likely to receive disability benefits as young adults, compared to their peers who were working, says Epland.
In 2021, 12 percent of women who were out of work at the age of 2004 in 17 were receiving disability benefits. The corresponding percentage among working people was 5%. We observe the same among men, where in 2021 the percentage of people with an incapacity for work pension among the unemployed was 10%, compared to only 3% in XNUMX. among those who had a job.
Different education
Among young people who were unemployed as 17-year-olds in 2004, more also ended up with less education than those who did.
Among the men in the study group, the percentage of people who completed only primary school as a completed education is clearly higher among those who did not work at the age of 17 than among peers who had such a job, 28 percent. compared with 17 percent.
Also among women there are large differences in the percentage of people with low education. For example, those who did not have a part-time job at age 17 had twice as many people with primary education as those who were in work at age 17.
In addition, there are large differences in the proportions of university and tertiary education. Among women who were working part-time at 17, 66 percent had completed tertiary education, compared to 53 percent of women who were not working at 17.
“Especially for low-educated men, the benefit appears to be large from gaining early work experience,” says Epland.
If we compare the professional earnings of men who have only completed primary school, those who worked at the age of 17 in 2004 had a median professional income in 2021 more than double that of those who did not work young, respectively NOK 447 vs. from NOK 000.
“The low occupational income of people who were out of work at age 17 indicates that many are likely to be completely out of work as adults,” says Epland.
They are more likely to come from low-income families
It has previously been shown that young people who are not working often come from low-income families.
This seems to be true of the group studied here as well.
“Those 17-year-olds who were out of work in 2004 came largely from lower-income families, where parents often had a poor working relationship,” says Jon Epland.
Almost 36 percent of all people aged 17 who were not working belonged to households in the lowest income quartile (lowest 2004%) in 25, while only 19% of those who had a job were.
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Source: Statistics Norway
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