What’s Your Ten-Year Plan?
The Effect of Future Expectations and Social Environments in Youth on Future Success
- Author
- Siobhan O'Connell and Eran Shor McGill University
Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we use multivariate ordinal logistic regression to measure the effects of various predictors during the respondents’ adolescence on the financial and educational achievement of the respondents at age 30. We
find that positive expectations for one’s future, as well as access to higher education increase the likelihood of future success, whereas social environments that foster feelings of danger and lack of social support have negative effects on one’s future. We discuss the
findings and implications of this study within the context of the gendered, racial, and socioeconomic inequalities.