How Does Life Satisfaction Change During the Transition from School to Work? A Study of Ninth and Tenth-Grade School-Leavers in Germany

Siembab, Matthias; Stawarz, Nico

doi:10.1007/s10902-017-9945-z

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Overall, findings indicate that leaving school was positive for health and well-being, irrespective if participants entered a prevocational program, vocational training, university, employment or inactivity after school. Two other studies from Finland and Germany found similar results for subjective well-being [ 28 , 49 ]. Accordingly, a study from Canada observed decreases in the prevalence of depression during the same time period [ 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Young people’s health and well-being during the school-to-work transition: a prospective cohort study comparing post-secondary pathways

et al. 2022

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Background At the end of secondary education, young people can either start vocational training, enter university, directly transition to employment or become unemployed. Research assumes that post-secondary pathways have immediate and/or long-term impacts on health and well-being, but empirical investigations on this are scarce and restricted to few countries. Therefore, this study traced the development of health and well-being throughout the highly institutionalised school-to-work transition (STWT) in Germany. Methods We used longitudinal data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), a representative sample of 11,098 school-leavers (50.5% girls) repeatedly interviewed between 2011 and 2020. We estimated the effect of post-secondary transitions on self-rated health and subjective well-being by applying fixed-effects (FE) regression, eliminating bias resulting from time-constant confounding and self-selection into different pathways. A multiple-sample strategy was used to account for the increasing diversity of STWTs patterns. Models were controlled for age, as well as household and residential changes to minimise temporal heterogeneity. Results Findings indicate that leaving school was good for health and well-being. Compared with participants who did not find a training position after school, direct transitions to vocational training or university were linked to higher absolute levels of health and well-being, but also to a lower relative decline over time. Furthermore, upward transitions (e.g. to programs leading to better education or from unemployment to employment) were associated with improvements in health and well-being, while downward transitions were followed by deteriorations. Conclusion Findings suggest that school-leave is a sensitive period and that post-secondary pathways provide young people with different abilities to maintain health and well-being. Youth health interventions might benefit when setting a stronger focus on unsuccessful school-leavers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Young people’s health and well-being during the school-to-work transition: a prospective cohort study comparing post-secondary pathways

et al. 2022

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“…However, from a closer institutional perspective, Salmela‐Aro and Tuominen‐Soini (2010) analyze Finnish data and show that life satisfaction increases during school transitions from comprehensive education to an academic or vocational track. Siembab and Stawarz (2019) find increasing levels of life satisfaction after individuals leave comprehensive school, regardless of occupational status or vocational track. Similarly, Dockery (2010) reports that successful transitions from school to work (e.g., the transition from secondary to post‐secondary education) have a positive impact on happiness.…”

Section: School‐to‐work Transition and Life Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research focusing on the development of subjective well‐being during the transition from youth to young adulthood shows that subjective well‐being decreases during this period (e.g., Baird et al., 2010; Beatton & Frijters, 2012; Burger & Samuel, 2017; Herke et al., 2019; Wunder et al., 2013). Furthermore, transition‐centered studies indicate that transitions to post‐compulsory education are positively related to subjective well‐being (Salmela‐Aro & Tuominen‐Soini, 2010; Siembab & Stawarz, 2019). Moreover, research investigating the associations between different transition statuses shows that young individuals enrolled in post‐compulsory education are happier than young individuals who work (Dockery, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School‐to‐work transition and subjective well‐being in Australia

Dietrich

Patzina

Chesters

et al. 2021

British Journal of Sociology

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The school‐to‐work transition is a demanding period during an individual's life course in all societies particularly because the educational decisions made during this period have long‐lasting consequences in multiple life domains. Moreover, adverse starting points after secondary school are likely to lead to adverse outcomes that might cumulate over the life course. This study analyses subjective well‐being during this sensitive period and examines the following two questions. First, how do different school‐to‐work transitions relate to subjective well‐being changes? Second, how does subjective well‐being develop during and after secondary schooling? As the school‐to‐work transition period is structured by gender, each analytical step aims to identify gender differences. Furthermore, based on life course theories, this study investigates whether adverse starting points after secondary school lead to cumulative effects in the development of subjective well‐being. Based on data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and fixed effects regressions, our results reveal that transitions to employment increase subjective well‐being, while transitions to unemployment decrease subjective well‐being. Furthermore, transitions to study increase subjective well‐being only among men, while such transitions appear to decrease subjective well‐being among women. The results related to the development of subjective well‐being indicate that subjective well‐being decreases during secondary schooling and continues to decrease after individuals leave school. This decrease is stronger among men. Finally, our results reveal the negative cumulative effects of adverse starting points on the development of subjective well‐being. Overall, the results reveal great intra‐individual variation in subjective well‐being during the school‐to‐work transition period in Australia.

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“…However, this apparent negative effect of an AAG on mental health disappeared when differences in depressive symptoms associated with educational attainment were additionally controlled for (Reynolds & Baird, 2010). Likewise, a recent study of German adolescents did not find differences in life satisfaction between those who experienced an educational AAG and those who did not (Siembab & Stawarz, 2019).…”

Section: Previous Research On the Consequences Of Occupational Aags For Swbmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Thus, the findings of these few studies are not readily generalizable to the potential consequences for SWB of an early career AAG in the highly structured German school and VET system. In addition, these studies were mostly cross-sectional and did not investigate how SWB developed over time as a function of an AAG (for exceptions, see Siembab & Stawarz, 2019;Smith & Frank, 2005). Some of the studies also looked at quite different outcomes (e.g., [mental] health rather than SWB) or used only global measures of SWB.…”

Section: Previous Research On the Consequences Of Occupational Aags For Swbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aspiration–Attainment Gaps Predict Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being After Transition to Vocational Education and Training in Germany

Nießen¹,

Wicht²,

Lechner³

2021

Preprint

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An occupational aspiration–attainment gap (AAG) is defined as a discrepancy between the socioeconomic status (SES) of the aspired and the attained occupation. We investigated how experiencing an occupational AAG after transition to vocational education and training (VET) affects three domains of subjective well-being (SWB)—namely, general life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and income satisfaction—among adolescents in Germany. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we could track respondents’ SWB across their transition to VET and over a period of 1 to 2 years after VET entry. Results from latent growth curve models revealed that both under- and overachievement of aspirations reduced in particular initial levels of SWB (especially job satisfaction and income satisfaction) after VET entry. Strong discrepancies between aspirations and attainment (AAG ≤ |5| ISEI [International Socio-Economic Index of Occupational Status] score points) in particular led to higher dissatisfaction. Individuals with an AAG tended to experience a slightly larger increase in SWB during VET than those who met their aspirations. Overall, our results suggest that the decisive factor for adolescents’ SWB is not the SES of the VET position they attain, but rather whether that position is the exact type of position to which they aspired, irrespective of whether the status of that occupation is lower or higher than the one they aspired to.

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How Does Life Satisfaction Change During the Transition from School to Work? A Study of Ninth and Tenth-Grade School-Leavers in Germany

Abstract: Weber, E., & Hülür, G. (2021). Co-development of couples' life satisfaction in transition to retirement: A longitudinal dyadic perspective.

Cited by 11 publications

References 58 publications

Young people’s health and well-being during the school-to-work transition: a prospective cohort study comparing post-secondary pathways

Young people’s health and well-being during the school-to-work transition: a prospective cohort study comparing post-secondary pathways

School‐to‐work transition and subjective well‐being in Australia

Aspiration–Attainment Gaps Predict Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being After Transition to Vocational Education and Training in Germany

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