September 2009

IZA DP No. 4444: Atypical Work: Who Gets It, and Where Does It Lead? Some U.S. Evidence Using the NLSY79

revised version published as 'Atypical Jobs: Stepping Stones or Dead Ends? Evidence from the NLSY79' in: The Manchester School, 2015, 83(1), 17–55

Atypical work arrangements have long been criticized as offering more precarious and lower paid work than regular open-ended employment. In an important paper, Booth et al. (2002) were among the first to recognize that notwithstanding their potential deficiencies, such jobs also functioned as a stepping stone to permanent work. This conclusion proved prescient and has received increasing support in Europe. In the present note, we provide a parallel analysis to Booth et al. for the United States – somewhat of a missing link in the evolving empirical literature – and obtain not dissimilar similar findings for the category of temporary workers as do they for fixed-term contract workers.