Growing Up: School, Family and Area Influences on Adolescents Later Life Chances

This paper explores the links between school, family and area background influences during adolescence and later adult economic outcomes. The empirical analysis is based on data covering the period 1979 to 1996, drawn from the 1979 US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. For a sample of individuals aged 14 to 19 in 1979, estimates are produced of the impact of family, school and local area when growing up, on earnings capacity and poverty risk once they reach adulthood.