WASHINGTON — Americans change jobs frequently, but more frequently early on in their careers, and most spend at least some time out of the labor force.
A Bureau of Labor Statistic study that spanned 35 years, and tracked Americans born in the latter years of the baby boom — from 1957 to 1964 — found they held an average of 11.9 jobs from age 18 to 50.
Nearly half of those jobs were held from ages 18 to 24.
The findings are from a study that followed 9,964 men and women who were ages 14 to 22 when they were first interviewed in 1979, and were interviewed annually until 1994 and then biannually until 2014 and 2015.
These late-end baby boomers held an average of:
- 5.5 jobs between 18 and 24;
- 4.5 jobs from 25 to 34;
- 2.9 jobs from 35 to 44; and
- 1.7 jobs from 45 to 50
Although the length of time at one job tended to be longer the older the worker was, BLS said these baby boomers also had a large number of short-duration jobs. Among jobs started by 35 to 44 year olds, 36 percent ended in less than a year, and 75 percent ended in fewer than 5 years.
On average, individuals were employed 78 percent of the time from age 18 to 50, though the report does not say how much time spent out of the labor force was voluntary or involuntary.
Women spent more time out of the labor force than men — 25 percent vs. 11 percent.
