Criminologists generally agree that employment prevents crime. However, the available research data reveals that under adverse conditions, employment fails to nurture the development of youth of school age and is actually harmful to them. The labor market for youth is shaped by economic interests in society. Most youth work to support a materialistic lifestyle desired as a result of marketing campaigns. Most employers in fast-food restaurants and certain other highly competitive sectors of the economy turn to youth as a source of inexpensive and transient labor that requires little corporate or managerial investment. Policies that would reshape the labor market and provide meaningful work more widely for juveniles and adults would be desirable, but such a transformation is not likely soon. Moreover, programs aimed at easing the transition of youth into the primary labor market are scarce. Thus, pushing youth into low-paying jobs that provide little human, social, or cultural capital will likely consign them to the secondary labor market and a life of underemployment. Therefore, more emphasis is needed on programs that prevent delinquency by promoting healthy psychosocial development and building skills needed to take part in post-industrial society. 82 references