The study postulates that youths remain in the labor force so long as the number of weeks they have employment exceeds the number they consider as minimally acceptable. Such a threshold level of weeks worked can be related to the notion of a reservation wage. Prior employment or experience raises expectations and should increase the threshold. Other factors, such as illegal opportunities to earn income, may also raise the threshold. If the actual fraction of weeks a yhouth works exceeds this threshold, it is expected that then youth will be employed during the following period. Data are compared for individuals of both sexes, age 16 or 17 years, from the Youth Cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey regarding the behavior of those who dropped out of school, those in the process of dropping out of school, and those remaining in school. Involvements in crime decreases the likelihood of future employment, most for dropouts and least for those remaining in school. Tabular data and 8 references. (Author abstract modified)