Skip to main content

More than 7 in 10 teens can't find summer jobs

Washington— Once a rite of passage to adulthood, summer jobs for teens are disappearing.

Fewer than three in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment for 16- to 19-year-olds falling to the lowest level since World War II.

And teen employment may never return to pre-recession levels, suggests a projection by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The drop in teen employment, steeper than for other age groups, is partly a cultural shift. More youths are spending summer months in school, at music or learning camps or in other activities geared for college. But the decline is especially troubling for teens for whom college may be out of reach,leaving them increasingly idle and with few options to earn wages and job experience[Increase in crime a danger?]

Older workers, immigrants and debt-laden college graduates are taking away lower-skill work as they struggle to find their own jobs in the weak economy. Upper-income white teens are three times as likely to have summer jobs as poor black teens, sometimes capitalizing on their parents' social networks for help.

While increased schooling is a factor, much of the recent employment decline is due to increased competition from other age groups for entry-level jobs that teens normally would fill.

Smith, the Fed economist, attributes at least half of declining teen employment since the mid-1980s to youths who are being crowded out of the job market by older workers and immigrants, pointing to recent technological changes that have thinned the ranks of midlevel jobs such as bank teller and sales representative.

His working paper for the Federal Reserve points to "potentially troubling long-term consequences" to the extent that jobless teens are not utilizing their time to go to summer school or do other college-preparatory work. His analysis of government data found that jobless teens across all income groups were often spending the extra time watching TV, playing video games and sleeping rather than on educational activities.


http://www.detroitnews.com/art...n-t-find-summer-jobs



See also:

Are Younger Millennials Becoming 'Lost'?

"It's tempting to look at the teen unemployment rate and sort of shrug and assume that ... the only consequence is that maybe the parents are giving [teenagers] money to go out to the movies this summer instead of the kids earning the money themselves," Saltsman says.

But working a summer job as a teen is not just about earning extra spending money. Saltsman says it's also about learning skills so you can become a good worker later in your adult life.

"The risk is that if [teenagers] miss out on [the summer job experience], they become part of this lost generation of teens who never had a chance to get a foothold to take that first step on that career ladder," Saltsman says.


While the lost paychecks are compiling every day, another, often unlooked component of this crisis is the lost opportunity for young people to create and develop a pool of skills for future employment.


Whole story:
http://www.futuremajority.com/topics/economy


Sugar Babies and the Need for Jobs
[Young women turning to prostitution because there are no other jobs available.]

Over the last few years, publications like Mother Jones and the New York Times magazine both have exposed us to the sugar daddy/baby phenomenon. Wealthy older men -- some married, some not -- plop their money down to entice young women to spend time with them, often with expectations of sexual activity.

However, as our economy has spiraled even further out of control, this activity is picking up steam.

More:
http://futuremajority.com/node/13759

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Sugar Babies and the Need for Jobs
[Young women turning to prostitution because there are no other jobs available.]

Over the last few years, publications like Mother Jones and the New York Times magazine both have exposed us to the sugar daddy/baby phenomenon. Wealthy older men -- some married, some not -- plop their money down to entice young women to spend time with them, often with expectations of sexual activity.

However, as our economy has spiraled even further out of control,this activity is picking up steam.


-------------------------

This has been going on for, well, forever, and seriously, someone is blaming the economy? hmmmmm

As I recall there was a plethora of jobs well suited for teenagers in crop harvesting, however they could not fill these jobs because people did not want to work any real labor intensive jobs for minimum wage.  Well guess what, that is what we al did as teenagers.  That was all that was available. Cutting grass, hauling hay, harvesting corn or picking peas, you name it.  However now it is far easier to fill those jobs withh illegal immigrants who will work for the same amount of money, not complain and do twice the wrok. The state legislature has tried to remedy some of that, but the they are being accused of being mean and prejusticed.

You can't have it both ways, and teenagers should not be expecting to work a low skilled job and make exhorbitant fees.

Every recession, there's articles about more women heading to strip clubs to work.  Like the Prefect of police in Casablanca, who was shocked to find gambling at Rick's (while collecting his winnings, Propie is shocked, shocked to find that young, attractive women are seeking older men with money.

 

This recession is lasting much longer than usual, thanks, in part, to the incompetence of this administration.  

 

As a kid, I remember scrambling all over to make money -- kept a lawn mover, hedge clippers and garden shears real busy.

 

Anyone have a line on just where these young women are meeting the older men?

Originally Posted by Chuck Farley:

Minimum wage is the reason a lot of teenagers can't get jobs anymore.  Had it not been raised there would probably be a million or so people working that aren't today.

 

The minimum wage doesn't have anything to do whether somebody gets hired or not. There are plenty of people already working at minimum wage; in fact, more than there used to be. 

 

If an employer needs somebody to do the work, they will hire whatever the minimum wage is. Teens can get a job only if there is an opening. If employers already have that somebody, there are no job openings.

 

There are no job openings for teen hiring because all the recent college graduates and laid-off manufacturing workers are snapping up all the minimum wage jobs to keep body and soul together, not because employers will think they will be forced into paying more than a teen is worth.

Originally Posted by FirenzeVeritas:
Originally Posted by interventor1212:

Huntsville/Madison may be an exception, but I see notices on many fast food places looking for employees.

 

When I worked in Athens ten years ago, Burger King was staring out employees at 7.50 an hour. Supply and demand in that area.

I remember the BK on Florence Blvd was offering $8-$9 an hour back in the '04-'06 time frame. The job market, like any other market, is cyclical. I don't know why some people cannot grasp that concept. 

 

When times are tough business owners, just like households, will tighten their belts. 

Originally Posted by FirenzeVeritas:
Originally Posted by interventor1212:

Huntsville/Madison may be an exception, but I see notices on many fast food places looking for employees.

 

When I worked in Athens ten years ago, Burger King was staring out employees at 7.50 an hour. Supply and demand in that area.

 

Not really supply and demand, just that the cost of living is higher where that's what was needed to attract workers in that area.  Even before there was talk to increase the minimal wage 5 years ago it wasn't uncommon to find most retail/food service stores paying $7-8

As the title implies, Stop whining and get a job! Well, herein lies the problem...  Many teen aged people do not want to WORK.  They want to get a paycheck!  As a small business owner, I have had to deal with this problem for years.  It has  nothing to do with the type of work or how much they are making, they simply do not want to WORK.  I will no longer keep in my employ people who just stand around and expect a paycheck at the end of the week.  It starts at home people!  As parents we need to stop giving everything to our children and expect nothing in return.  Kids are no longer taught that they have to WORK for things they want and therefore have NO work ethic.

Originally Posted by Contendah:
Originally Posted by vtech2:

Would like to find me about 4 good folks who would work 12 hours a day for $2.00 an hour, no lunch breaks and etc. Save me a whole bunch of money.

___

And no restroom breaks, either.  They can just hold it. Getting the JOB done comes first!

________________

They should be sweating so much they don't need restroom breaks.

Add Reply

Post

Untitled Document
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×