Father's unemployment and career related variables of his adolescent child

Unemployment is considered to be a personal and family crisis that damages the routine of family life. This study explores the relations between father's unemployment and three career related variables of his adolescent children: work values, career maturity, and expectations for success in work. Based on the assumption that the father's employment status and the atmosphere in the home are primary factors influencing adolescents' career development, specific career related differences were expected between adolescents with employed versus unemployed fathers. Participants comprised 91 eleventh and twelfth grade students (42 males and 49 females) from two cities in Israel, of whom 45 had an unemployed father. Two-way analysis of variance demonstrated that adolescents with employed fathers demonstrated significantly higher expectations for success than those with unemployed fathers, with a larger difference found for females. Similar differences between groups were also found in four of the work value subscales and in the extrinsic value dimension; however, differences in the career maturity were not significant. Implications for other research and for career counselors are discussed. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.