Longitudinal connections between decent education and decent work in a nationally representative sample

Guided by Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), the current study examined the longitudinal relations between parental economic resources, decent education, and decent work attainment using a nationally representative sample of 7683 participants from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Key constructs were operationalized using available indicators in the Add Health dataset, serving as close approximations of core PWT constructs. Multigroup structural equation modeling explored variations across racial and sex groups. Results indicated significant yet modest associations between economic resources, decent education, and decent work over time, with decent education serving as a partial indirect link between early economic resources and later work outcomes. Post hoc analyses indicated that individual components of decent education related to decent work primarily among non‐Hispanic White participants, with inconsistent associations in the other racial groups. These findings highlight how educational experiences may contribute to work attainment and point to the potential utility of an extended PWT framework for understanding education‐to‐work transitions. By combining a longitudinal design with nationally representative data and multigroup modeling, this study provides an empirical foundation for future research and applied efforts to promote equitable access to decent work across diverse populations.