Family socioeconomic status and job search: Pathways to job quality improvement for young adults without college degrees.

Abstract

Improving job quality through job transitions is crucial in early adulthood. However, young adults without college degrees, particularly those from lower socioeconomic status (SES) families, can struggle to break out of lower quality jobs. Integrating socioeconomic and psychological perspectives, this research examines how family SES impacts job quality improvement through job search among young adults without college degrees when they transition from one job to another. We develop and test a model that explicates how family SES influences job quality improvement through constraints and resources for job search and self-regulated job search processes. Partnering with a Midwest state government agency, we collected data from young job seekers without college degrees through four longitudinal surveys over 6 months. Our findings revealed that job seekers from lower (vs. higher) SES families faced more basic needs constraints and had fewer college degree holders in their job search networks. These factors, in turn, influenced job seekers' wage increase goals and their job search metacognition. We also found that job seekers with higher wage increase goals achieved larger wage improvement between their previous and new jobs, and those who engaged in more job search metacognition were more likely to secure improvements in benefits, find new jobs with promotion opportunities, and perceive improvements in working conditions. These findings extend the literature on job quality, job search, socioeconomic mobility, and inequality and provide practical implications for multiple stakeholder groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).