Parental Job Loss and Early Adolescent Adjustment

Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago
Thomas DeLeire, University of Chicago

The present study examines the short-term effects of maternal and paternal job loss on early adolescents' academic achievement, school behavior problems, and psychological adjustment in a national longitudinal data set (the NELS). We examine changes in the youth's outcomes between the 8th and 10th grade (1988-1990) as a function of parental job losses that occurred in the intervening years. Multivariate regression analyses controlling for relevant background characteristics are conducted separately for black and white families. Among white youth, fathers' job loss has a small detrimental effect on youth's locus of control. For black youth, fathers' job loss has a substantial detrimental effect on school behavior problems and math test scores. Effects for mothers' job loss are generally small and not statistically significant.