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Digest of Education Statistics
2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 503.10. Percentage of high school students age 16 and over who were employed, by age group, sex, race/ethnicity, family income, nativity, and hours worked per week: Selected years, 1970 through 2016
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Year Total Age group Sex Race/ethnicity Family income1 Nativity
16 and 17 years old 18 years old and over Male Female White Black Hispanic Low income Middle income High income U.S.-born Foreign-born
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
  Percent employed2
1970 31.9   (0.88) 30.8   (0.93) 39.7   (2.55) 35.2   (1.24) 28.3   (1.22)   (†)   (†)   (†) 22.0   (2.51) 31.5   (1.12) 35.9   (1.64)   (†)   (†)
1975 33.2   (0.85) 32.9   (0.91) 34.9   (2.40) 35.0   (1.19) 31.2   (1.22) 38.0   (1.00) 13.9   (1.63) 21.8   (3.59) 18.4   (2.22) 31.8   (1.10) 40.4   (1.59)   (†)   (†)
1980 35.6   (0.87) 34.9   (0.94) 39.6   (2.28) 36.9   (1.22) 34.2   (1.24) 41.2   (1.03) 15.0   (1.64) 24.1   (3.65) 19.4   (2.10) 35.2   (1.15) 42.3   (1.59)   (†)   (†)
1985 31.6   (0.93) 30.8   (1.00) 36.1   (2.47) 32.1   (1.29) 31.0   (1.33) 37.9   (1.15) 15.0   (1.85) 17.6   (2.63) 14.7   (1.85) 31.0   (1.23) 41.1   (1.81)   (†)   (†)
1990 32.3   (0.98) 31.2   (1.08) 37.1   (2.33) 33.1   (1.37) 31.3   (1.39) 37.8   (1.24) 17.3   (2.05) 26.4   (2.86) 21.4   (2.16) 33.1   (1.29) 36.8   (1.97)   (†)   (†)
1995 33.6   (0.92) 32.7   (1.02) 37.5   (2.19) 33.1   (1.26) 34.2   (1.35) 40.8   (1.18) 18.0   (1.91) 22.2   (2.41) 17.4   (1.82) 34.4   (1.23) 42.1   (1.88) 34.9   (0.97) 20.1   (2.65)
                                                                               
2000 34.1   (0.93) 33.3   (1.03) 37.7   (2.15) 33.2   (1.28) 35.1   (1.36) 41.3   (1.20) 21.3   (2.14) 20.9   (2.18) 22.0   (2.11) 34.1   (1.22) 40.7   (1.85) 35.1   (0.99) 24.4   (2.74)
2001 32.4   (0.86) 31.1   (0.95) 37.8   (1.99) 30.6   (1.17) 34.5   (1.27) 38.9   (1.11) 18.7   (1.85) 23.6   (2.23) 21.4   (2.04) 33.3   (1.12) 36.1   (1.70) 33.3   (0.90) 23.0   (2.64)
2002 30.6   (0.84) 29.2   (0.93) 35.9   (1.92) 28.0   (1.13) 33.4   (1.24) 37.5   (1.11) 16.9   (1.81) 21.1   (1.94) 18.4   (1.83) 31.4   (1.11) 35.3   (1.64) 31.6   (0.89) 21.3   (2.34)
2003 27.0   (0.79) 25.3   (0.86) 34.6   (1.97) 26.7   (1.09) 27.3   (1.15) 33.3   (1.07) 15.2   (1.68) 18.8   (1.82) 14.3   (1.64) 27.8   (1.05) 31.8   (1.57) 28.0   (0.84) 17.7   (2.17)
2004 27.2   (0.80) 25.6   (0.87) 34.7   (2.03) 26.2   (1.09) 28.3   (1.17) 32.9   (1.08) 15.1   (1.71) 21.2   (1.92) 12.0   (1.55) 27.5   (1.05) 34.4   (1.64) 27.8   (0.85) 20.8   (2.43)
                                                                               
2005 26.4   (0.77) 25.2   (0.84) 32.2   (1.95) 25.3   (1.05) 27.6   (1.14) 31.8   (1.05) 13.7   (1.63) 19.4   (1.78) 14.8   (1.61) 26.9   (1.03) 31.7   (1.55) 26.8   (0.81) 21.7   (2.49)
2006 27.6   (0.79) 26.0   (0.86) 34.1   (1.87) 26.5   (1.08) 28.8   (1.16) 33.6   (1.08) 20.1   (1.85) 17.5   (1.72) 17.8   (1.72) 27.5   (1.04) 33.5   (1.59) 27.9   (0.82) 23.9   (2.64)
2007 26.2   (0.78) 24.8   (0.85) 32.2   (1.87) 25.0   (1.06) 27.6   (1.14) 31.3   (1.06) 15.1   (1.68) 21.1   (1.83) 17.3   (1.74) 25.9   (1.01) 32.1   (1.62) 26.0   (0.81) 28.5   (2.64)
2008 22.6   (0.74) 21.0   (0.80) 29.5   (1.83) 20.0   (0.99) 25.4   (1.10) 27.7   (1.04) 15.5   (1.69) 15.1   (1.54) 13.5   (1.54) 22.6   (0.96) 28.4   (1.59) 23.1   (0.78) 18.0   (2.35)
2009 17.0   (0.67) 15.2   (0.72) 23.8   (1.65) 16.0   (0.91) 18.1   (0.98) 21.5   (0.96) 10.5   (1.43) 11.9   (1.39) 9.7   (1.33) 16.3   (0.85) 23.5   (1.51) 17.0   (0.70) 16.9   (2.32)
                                                                               
20103 16.2   (0.55) 15.0   (0.59) 20.8   (1.52) 14.0   (0.78) 18.5   (0.86) 20.9   (0.86) 9.6   (1.28) 10.4   (1.18) 8.5   (1.01) 16.5   (0.80) 20.9   (1.31) 16.4   (0.60) 13.4   (2.20)
20113 16.9   (0.67) 16.4   (0.77) 18.7   (1.28) 14.7   (0.76) 19.4   (1.09) 22.2   (1.07) 10.2   (1.43) 11.3   (1.11) 10.2   (1.29) 17.5   (0.83) 19.6   (1.39) 17.3   (0.74) 12.4   (1.91)
20123 18.0   (0.71) 16.0   (0.75) 24.5   (1.88) 16.6   (0.83) 19.4   (1.13) 23.2   (0.97) 12.7   (2.17) 11.4   (1.23) 13.0   (1.42) 16.4   (0.88) 24.9   (1.55) 18.6   (0.76) 12.0   (2.01)
20133 17.9   (0.65) 15.8   (0.69) 24.7   (1.73) 17.6   (0.89) 18.3   (0.94) 23.3   (0.99) 11.8   (1.42) 14.0   (1.19) 9.7   (1.26) 16.9   (0.90) 25.4   (1.69) 17.8   (0.66) 19.0   (2.67)
20143 19.2   (0.70) 17.3   (0.71) 25.5   (1.63) 18.1   (0.90) 20.3   (1.03) 23.2   (1.00) 14.0   (1.65) 14.7   (1.47) 12.6   (1.52) 19.3   (0.88) 23.2   (1.54) 19.2   (0.75) 18.8   (2.20)
                                                                               
20153 19.0   (0.73) 17.2   (0.79) 25.8   (1.70) 18.1   (0.92) 20.0   (1.23) 22.2   (1.05) 15.0   (2.03) 15.7   (1.42) 13.7   (1.87) 18.8   (0.93) 22.3   (1.47) 19.0   (0.78) 19.2   (2.20)
20163 18.3   (0.70) 16.5   (0.79) 24.9   (1.80) 15.8   (0.88) 20.9   (1.16) 22.9   (0.95) 9.3   (1.54) 15.0   (1.38) 8.1   (1.17) 18.9   (0.98) 22.8   (1.58) 18.7   (0.77) 14.0   (2.13)
  Percent working less than 15 hours per week4
1970 13.6   (0.64) 14.5   (0.71) 7.5   (1.37) 12.3   (0.85) 14.9   (0.97)   (†)   (†)   (†) 9.9   (1.81) 12.6   (0.80) 16.8   (1.28)   (†)   (†)
1975 13.4   (0.62) 14.0   (0.67) 8.8   (1.43) 12.5   (0.82) 14.3   (0.92) 15.5   (0.75) 5.3   (1.05) 6.6 ! (2.15) 6.8   (1.44) 12.3   (0.78) 17.4   (1.23)   (†)   (†)
1980 14.0   (0.63) 14.9   (0.70) 8.9   (1.33) 13.7   (0.87) 14.2   (0.91) 16.4   (0.77) 4.6   (0.96) 9.4   (2.49) 7.7   (1.41) 13.2   (0.82) 17.7   (1.23)   (†)   (†)
1985 12.3   (0.65) 12.8   (0.72) 9.5   (1.51) 11.7   (0.89) 12.9   (0.96) 15.2   (0.85) 6.2   (1.25) 3.0 ! (1.18) 3.6   (0.97) 11.8   (0.86) 17.5   (1.40)   (†)   (†)
1990 11.7   (0.67) 12.9   (0.78) 6.8   (1.21) 11.3   (0.92) 12.2   (0.98) 14.7   (0.90) 6.0   (1.28) 4.8   (1.39) 5.9   (1.24) 11.5   (0.88) 15.6   (1.48)   (†)   (†)
1995 11.9   (0.63) 13.1   (0.73) 6.8   (1.14) 11.1   (0.84) 12.9   (0.96) 14.8   (0.85) 6.5   (1.22) 6.5   (1.42) 4.4   (0.98) 11.3   (0.82) 18.1   (1.47) 12.6   (0.68) 5.1   (1.46)
                                                                               
2000 11.9   (0.64) 12.9   (0.73) 7.8   (1.19) 11.2   (0.86) 12.6   (0.94) 15.4   (0.88) 6.3   (1.27) 3.7   (1.01) 5.4   (1.15) 11.3   (0.82) 16.5   (1.40) 12.6   (0.68) 5.2   (1.42)
2001 11.6   (0.59) 12.6   (0.68) 7.7   (1.10) 9.8   (0.75) 13.7   (0.91) 15.0   (0.82) 4.3   (0.96) 6.1   (1.26) 5.7   (1.15) 10.8   (0.74) 16.4   (1.31) 12.2   (0.63) 5.5   (1.43)
2002 11.1   (0.57) 12.1   (0.66) 7.2   (1.04) 9.7   (0.74) 12.7   (0.87) 15.0   (0.82) 4.5   (1.00) 3.6   (0.89) 6.0   (1.12) 10.0   (0.72) 16.1   (1.26) 11.9   (0.62) 4.1   (1.13)
2003 9.6   (0.52) 10.0   (0.59) 7.8   (1.11) 9.0   (0.70) 10.2   (0.78) 12.4   (0.75) 4.5   (0.96) 5.5   (1.06) 4.8   (1.00) 9.1   (0.67) 13.1   (1.14) 10.2   (0.57) 3.7   (1.07)
2004 10.4   (0.55) 10.9   (0.62) 8.4   (1.18) 9.9   (0.74) 11.0   (0.82) 14.0   (0.80) 4.9   (1.03) 4.4   (0.96) 3.5   (0.87) 8.5   (0.66) 18.1   (1.33) 11.0   (0.59) 5.2   (1.33)
                                                                               
2005 10.1   (0.53) 10.7   (0.60) 7.2   (1.08) 8.9   (0.69) 11.4   (0.81) 13.4   (0.77) 3.7   (0.89) 5.0   (0.99) 3.7   (0.85) 9.9   (0.69) 13.9   (1.16) 10.6   (0.56) 4.6   (1.26)
2006 9.9   (0.53) 10.7   (0.61) 6.4   (0.97) 8.8   (0.69) 11.0   (0.80) 12.8   (0.76) 5.2   (1.03) 4.2   (0.91) 3.7   (0.85) 9.2   (0.67) 14.7   (1.20) 10.5   (0.56) 3.0 ! (1.06)
2007 10.6   (0.54) 11.4   (0.63) 7.0   (1.02) 9.5   (0.72) 11.7   (0.82) 14.2   (0.80) 3.0   (0.80) 6.0   (1.06) 6.1   (1.10) 9.6   (0.68) 15.3   (1.25) 11.1   (0.58) 5.7   (1.36)
2008 9.2   (0.51) 9.9   (0.59) 6.1   (0.96) 8.1   (0.68) 10.3   (0.77) 12.4   (0.77) 3.2   (0.82) 4.1   (0.85) 3.1   (0.78) 9.1   (0.66) 13.0   (1.18) 9.6   (0.54) 4.6   (1.28)
2009 7.6   (0.47) 8.0   (0.54) 6.2   (0.94) 6.8   (0.62) 8.4   (0.71) 10.1   (0.71) 3.6   (0.86) 4.7   (0.91) 3.6   (0.83) 6.9   (0.58) 11.8   (1.15) 7.8   (0.50) 5.2   (1.38)
                                                                               
20103 7.3   (0.42) 7.5   (0.49) 6.8   (0.94) 6.3   (0.50) 8.4   (0.69) 9.5   (0.65) 4.1   (0.82) 4.5   (0.79) 3.0   (0.63) 7.1   (0.54) 10.9   (1.01) 7.7   (0.45) 3.4 ! (1.21)
20113 7.3   (0.40) 8.1   (0.50) 4.4   (0.71) 5.8   (0.51) 9.0   (0.66) 11.0   (0.66) 2.2   (0.60) 2.7   (0.54) 3.7   (0.81) 7.0   (0.55) 10.2   (0.94) 7.7   (0.44) 2.8 ! (0.98)
20123 8.2   (0.46) 8.5   (0.53) 7.3   (0.95) 7.1   (0.57) 9.4   (0.73) 12.2   (0.73) 3.7   (0.92) 2.4   (0.58) 4.2   (0.89) 7.2   (0.53) 13.3   (1.27) 8.8   (0.50) 2.4 ! (0.75)
20133 7.9   (0.50) 8.2   (0.54) 6.8   (0.99) 6.9   (0.61) 8.9   (0.77) 12.2   (0.81) 2.6   (0.71) 3.4   (0.62) 2.9   (0.78) 7.0   (0.54) 13.1   (1.38) 8.1   (0.50) 5.5 ! (1.75)
20143 7.8   (0.43) 8.4   (0.49) 5.7   (0.85) 6.5   (0.54) 9.1   (0.67) 10.7   (0.67) 3.5   (0.91) 3.5   (0.65) 3.8   (0.90) 7.6   (0.57) 10.9   (1.04) 8.2   (0.46) 3.7 ! (1.14)
                                                                               
20153 8.5   (0.48) 8.7   (0.54) 7.8   (1.07) 7.8   (0.70) 9.3   (0.75) 10.9   (0.75) 7.0   (1.49) 5.3   (0.97) 5.0   (1.07) 7.7   (0.60) 12.2   (1.18) 9.1   (0.53) 3.4   (1.00)
20163 8.1   (0.48) 8.4   (0.57) 7.0   (1.12) 6.5   (0.58) 9.8   (0.85) 10.8   (0.73) 2.4 ! (0.81) 5.0   (0.81) 2.6   (0.70) 7.5   (0.63) 12.4   (1.18) 8.5   (0.51) 4.5   (1.33)
  Percent working 15 or more hours per week4
1970 17.5   (0.71) 15.6   (0.73) 30.8   (2.41) 22.1   (1.08) 12.6   (0.90)   (†)   (†)   (†) 10.6   (1.87) 18.4   (0.93) 18.1   (1.32)   (†)   (†)
1975 19.2   (0.71) 18.2   (0.75) 25.7   (2.20) 21.7   (1.03) 16.4   (0.97) 21.8   (0.85) 8.3   (1.30) 14.7   (3.08) 11.3   (1.81) 19.0   (0.93) 22.1   (1.34)   (†)   (†)
1980 20.5   (0.73) 19.0   (0.77) 29.4   (2.12) 22.1   (1.05) 18.9   (1.02) 23.5   (0.89) 10.1   (1.39) 14.3   (2.99) 11.4   (1.69) 21.0   (0.98) 23.1   (1.36)   (†)   (†)
1985 18.4   (0.77) 17.2   (0.81) 25.5   (2.24) 19.5   (1.09) 17.3   (1.09) 21.7   (0.97) 8.4   (1.44) 13.7   (2.37) 10.0   (1.57) 18.4   (1.03) 22.6   (1.54)   (†)   (†)
1990 19.7   (0.83) 17.5   (0.88) 29.1   (2.19) 21.0   (1.19) 18.3   (1.16) 22.1   (1.06) 10.6   (1.67) 21.5   (2.66) 15.0   (1.88) 20.8   (1.11) 20.2   (1.64)   (†)   (†)
1995 20.5   (0.79) 18.4   (0.84) 29.7   (2.07) 20.8   (1.09) 20.2   (1.14) 24.5   (1.03) 10.9   (1.55) 15.1   (2.07) 12.7   (1.60) 21.9   (1.07) 22.5   (1.59) 21.1   (0.83) 14.9   (2.35)
                                                                               
2000 21.1   (0.80) 19.2   (0.86) 28.8   (2.01) 21.1   (1.11) 21.0   (1.16) 24.6   (1.05) 13.8   (1.80) 16.3   (1.98) 15.6   (1.85) 21.5   (1.06) 23.1   (1.59) 21.3   (0.84) 19.0   (2.50)
2001 19.4   (0.73) 17.1   (0.77) 28.3   (1.85) 19.6   (1.01) 19.1   (1.05) 22.2   (0.95) 13.4   (1.62) 17.0   (1.97) 14.6   (1.76) 20.9   (0.97) 18.4   (1.37) 19.6   (0.76) 16.9   (2.35)
2002 18.5   (0.71) 16.1   (0.75) 27.9   (1.80) 17.5   (0.95) 19.7   (1.04) 21.4   (0.94) 11.9   (1.57) 16.8   (1.78) 12.3   (1.55) 20.7   (0.97) 17.4   (1.30) 18.7   (0.75) 16.5   (2.12)
2003 16.4   (0.66) 14.3   (0.69) 25.9   (1.82) 16.8   (0.92) 16.0   (0.94) 19.5   (0.90) 10.4   (1.42) 13.1   (1.57) 9.1   (1.35) 17.6   (0.89) 17.7   (1.29) 16.7   (0.70) 13.6   (1.95)
2004 16.0   (0.66) 13.8   (0.68) 26.2   (1.88) 15.5   (0.90) 16.6   (0.97) 17.8   (0.88) 10.2   (1.45) 16.6   (1.75) 8.1   (1.30) 18.3   (0.91) 15.2   (1.24) 16.1   (0.69) 15.2   (2.15)
                                                                               
2005 15.2   (0.63) 13.4   (0.66) 23.5   (1.77) 15.5   (0.88) 14.8   (0.90) 17.0   (0.84) 9.6   (1.40) 13.6   (1.55) 10.8   (1.40) 15.9   (0.85) 16.1   (1.23) 15.1   (0.66) 16.5   (2.24)
2006 17.0   (0.66) 14.4   (0.69) 27.0   (1.75) 16.8   (0.91) 17.1   (0.96) 19.5   (0.90) 14.5   (1.63) 13.3   (1.54) 13.8   (1.55) 17.7   (0.89) 17.3   (1.27) 16.6   (0.68) 20.8   (2.51)
2007 15.0   (0.63) 12.8   (0.66) 24.2   (1.72) 14.8   (0.87) 15.2   (0.92) 16.2   (0.85) 11.4   (1.49) 14.9   (1.59) 10.9   (1.44) 15.6   (0.83) 15.8   (1.27) 14.3   (0.65) 22.2   (2.43)
2008 12.8   (0.59) 10.3   (0.60) 22.7   (1.68) 11.4   (0.79) 14.1   (0.88) 14.3   (0.82) 11.9   (1.51) 10.6   (1.32) 9.9   (1.34) 12.8   (0.77) 14.4   (1.23) 12.7   (0.62) 13.0   (2.06)
2009 8.7   (0.50) 6.4   (0.49) 17.3   (1.47) 8.4   (0.69) 9.1   (0.73) 10.4   (0.71) 6.5   (1.15) 7.2   (1.11) 5.9   (1.06) 8.9   (0.66) 9.9   (1.07) 8.4   (0.52) 11.7   (1.99)
                                                                               
20103 8.3   (0.45) 6.9   (0.47) 13.4   (1.24) 7.2   (0.62) 9.4   (0.70) 10.5   (0.67) 5.3   (1.01) 5.6   (0.84) 5.3   (0.88) 9.0   (0.58) 8.7   (1.16) 8.1   (0.46) 9.6   (1.83)
20113 9.0   (0.52) 7.7   (0.56) 13.6   (1.10) 8.4   (0.63) 9.8   (0.78) 10.5   (0.77) 7.4   (1.30) 8.4   (1.06) 6.3   (1.10) 10.0   (0.69) 8.5   (0.94) 9.0   (0.55) 9.6   (1.84)
20123 8.9   (0.55) 6.7   (0.51) 16.5   (1.62) 8.4   (0.62) 9.5   (0.84) 10.0   (0.69) 8.2   (1.97) 8.4   (1.04) 8.3   (1.22) 8.7   (0.68) 9.9   (1.30) 8.9   (0.59) 9.6   (1.76)
20133 9.7   (0.56) 7.3   (0.53) 17.4   (1.57) 10.3   (0.85) 9.1   (0.67) 10.6   (0.81) 9.1   (1.37) 10.6   (1.10) 6.7   (1.19) 9.7   (0.82) 11.7   (1.12) 9.4   (0.60) 13.4   (2.15)
20143 10.7   (0.55) 8.2   (0.48) 19.3   (1.49) 10.8   (0.72) 10.6   (0.81) 11.6   (0.75) 9.4   (1.52) 11.0   (1.30) 8.6   (1.34) 11.1   (0.73) 11.1   (1.25) 10.2   (0.56) 15.1   (2.12)
                                                                               
20153 9.7   (0.54) 7.8   (0.53) 17.2   (1.50) 9.7   (0.66) 9.7   (0.86) 10.5   (0.75) 7.3   (1.31) 9.8   (1.11) 8.2   (1.41) 10.2   (0.72) 9.7   (1.05) 9.2   (0.57) 15.0   (2.08)
20163 9.7   (0.55) 7.6   (0.58) 17.3   (1.54) 8.8   (0.65) 10.6   (0.87) 11.6   (0.79) 6.9   (1.32) 9.0   (1.16) 5.5   (1.01) 10.8   (0.72) 9.8   (1.13) 9.7   (0.60) 9.0   (1.69)
—Not available.
† Not applicable.
! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
1 Low income refers to the bottom 20 percent of all family incomes; high income refers to the top 20 percent of all family incomes; and middle income refers to the 60 percent in between.
2 Percent employed includes those who were employed but not at work during the survey week.
3 Beginning in 2010, standard errors were computed using replicate weights, which produced more precise values than the generalized variance function methodology used in prior years.
4 Hours worked per week refers to the number of hours the respondent worked at all jobs during the survey week. The estimates of the percentage of high school students age 16 and over who worked less than 15 hours per week or 15 or more hours per week exclude those who were employed but not at work during the survey week. Therefore, detail may not sum to total percentage employed.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Totals include racial/ethnic groups not shown separately.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October, 1970 through 2016. (This table was prepared May 2018.)

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