EFFECT OF UNEMPLOYMENT ON SCHOOL LEAVERS SELF-ESTEEM

Young people who do nor go ro college after high school face much higher unemployment rates than adults, and their failure ro find satisfactory employment may impede the growth of self-esteem at a crucial developmental stage. The effect of unemployment was studied in a subsample from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth whose self-esteem was measured in 1980 while still in school and again in 1987. Unemployment and unsatisfactory employment in 1987 were both negatively related to self-esteem in 1987. All groups showed increases in self-esteem between interviews, but those satisfactorily employed gained most. In a different analysis, the percentage of time unemployed since leaving school was also negatively related to self-esteem. Although percentage of time unemployed did not add any explanatory power to the prediction of 1987 self-esteem by 1987 unemployment, it may operate indirectly on self-esteem via 1987 employment status.