A longitudinal study of 2,378 Australian teenagers from their ninth year in school in 1980 until 1983 provided data on the significance of part-time employment in young people's transition from school to the world of work. Those studied were attending 26 different secondary schools in Australia's Victoria State in 1980 when data were first collected. Many had left school by 1981 and 1983 when subsequent data collections were made. Interviews were conducted in 1983 with 30 of those surveyed and with 48 other secondary students as well. The study considered part-time youth employment in the light of the potentially interrelated influences of family, school, and work, other economic and social forces, and the social and personal development of young people as well. The purpose was to generate information that could assist in youth policy development. Six basic areas were investigated: the nature of part-time work undertaken by youths; the characteristics of young part-time workers; the reasons young people work; and the impact of part-time work on career development, social and personal development, and school-to-work transition. The report discusses the study methodology, the study results, and implications of the findings. (PGD)