Parental Incarceration and School-to-Work Trajectories: A Life Course Perspective

Although previous studies suggest that parental behavior is associated with children’s adulthood outcomes, few studies have focused on the role of parental incarceration in School-to-Work transitions. Based on a life course perspective, this study constructs the School-to-Work trajectories of Chinese young adults born between 1940 and 1979 to examine the effect of parental incarceration on these transitions and the mediating role of family support. We found that adolescents whose parents were incarcerated transitioned from School-to-Work earlier and had more vulnerable transition trajectories than those of children whose parents were not incarcerated. Moreover, the former was more likely to engage in agricultural labor, enter the labor market with low education, and experience long-term unemployment after leaving school. We also found that family support mediated the effect of parental incarceration on School-to-Work transitions. Parental incarceration led to low levels of family support, further increasing the likelihood of affected adolescents embarking on a vulnerable transition trajectory. These findings underscore the long-term effect of positive parental behaviors and family support on young adults’ School-to-Work trajectories and provide crucial policy implications for developing a young adult-friendly family environment and young adult support programs to promote effortless transitions from School-to-Work.