The 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) provided data on the employment experience and other characteristics of a nationally representative sample of 9,022 young men and women who were between 12 and 16 years old on December 31, 1996. The NLSY focused on four aspects of youth's lives: overall employment; employment while in school; educational experiences; and home characteristics. According to the NLSY, female youths were much less likely than male youths to hold an employee job at some time while age 14 or 15 and were more likely to engage in freelance jobs. From age 14 to age 15, youths moved toward more formal work arrangement: 24% of youths held an employee job at age 14 versus 38% at age 15. Twenty-eight percent of youths aged 14-16 worked during school and summer months, and 16% of youths who had attended ninth grade or higher in 1997, had been involved in gifted and talented programs. Youths between the ages of 12 and 15 spent an average of 17 hours per week watching television but only 11 hours doing homework or reading for pleasure combined. Working youths watched less television than their nonworking counterparts did. (MN)