ABSTRACT
The analysis is primarily concerned with measuring the effects of factors that became important after the cohort members entered the labor force. Early entry into the labor force meant that this British sample had, on average, much more work experience at age twenty-three than a comparable US sample would have had. The process of getting settled into the labor force examined here thus covers an extended period of time. Although the early labor force entry meant that many of these young Britons had very limited qualifications at the time they obtained their first jobs, large portions of them took additional courses after entering the labor force. The pattern of male and female gains in qualifications is strikingly different from the pattern of qualifications at labor force entry. The period of labor force experience served to alter appreciably the kinds of credentials the cohort members brought with them when they left full-time school.
