Race and Sex Differences in Quits by Young Workers

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of young men and women to analyze race and sex differences in the probability and consequences of quitting. The authors find that overall quit rates in this group are higher for women than for men and about the same for blacks and whites. When several personal and job characteristics are held constant, however, the quit rates of young men and women are about the same and young blacks actually quit less frequently than young whites. When an instrumental variable approach is used to account for sample heterogeneity, it is found that, for all race and sex groups, quitting improved both current wages and long-term earnings prospects. Further, the improvement in long-term earnings prospects is found to be greater than the gain in current earnings, suggesting that training opportunities are an important consideration in the job shifts of all young people.