Fewer than one in three American teens gets a summer job
Paramount/ Courtesy: Everett CollectionMore teens than ever are shunning summer jobs.
The number of jobs that people ages 16 to 19 secured in May — the start of the summer hiring surge — was just 156,000, down 14% from last year, according to an analysis of government data by career outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released this week. And last year, the number of teens who got summer jobs was nearly 11% lower than the year prior.
That’s all part of a decades-long trend in which fewer teens than ever work summer jobs: While more than half of teenagers worked summer jobs in the 1970s and 1980s, these days fewer than one in three do, according to a survey released in 2015 by the Pew Research Center.
“The general trend in summer employment among teens has been downward and that trend has been going on since the late 1970s,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
One big reason for the decline? Teens are choosing not to work. “Teens are not pursuing traditional summer jobs like they used to,” says Challenger. Instead, many of them are volunteering, enrolling in educational programs or doing other things that may pad their college applications, he explains.
There are also fewer opportunities. “Restaurants and retail outlets are still hiring teens, but not as many as in the past, because they simply don’t need as many workers to meet seasonal demand,” said Challenger. Plus, while teens “continue to have opportunities in the classic summer job settings, such as summer camps, neighborhood pools, amusement parks, etc. … the number of these jobs is not really growing,” he says. “We don’t see a dozen new amusement parks or summer camps start up every year.”
But many experts say this could have a detrimental impact on teens because of what you learn and experience while working a summer job. Summer jobs help teens learn to develop accountability, grit and, many jobs that teens get are far from glamorous, “how to manage in situations where you don’t necessarily like everything,” says New York-based career coach Roy Cohen.
It also gives students skills that future employers value. “Any experience at all puts you ahead of the completion because you have real experience in the professional world of work,” says career expert Martin Yate, the author of “Knock ‘Em Dead – Ultimate Job Search Guide.” Some college admissions officers also say they value paid summer work.
Summer jobs can also help teach teens the value of money, says Cohen. And even more than volunteering or another unpaid experience, it helps develop responsibility. “It’s easy to slide when there is no money involved,” he says.
Still, there is plenty of value in doing things like volunteering instead of paid summer work. These experiences can be more enriching in some cases than flipping burgers or working the ticket counter at an amusement park, Cohen says. And, says Mike Falco, the president of Falco Wealth Management near Philadelphia, having a summer job may mean less time to focus on college planning.
And while some admissions officers value paid work, many look even more favorably on a great volunteering or other experience. “Working for the local muffler shop might not sound as good as working for a charity for a college app[lications],” says Yate.
” Some college admissions officers also say they value paid summer work.”
Been working since I was 15. Worked my way up to working at the City Desk selling HVAC equipment.
Volunteering is horrible – it takes away paid work from someone else.
……One big reason for the decline? Teens are choosing not to work. “Teens are not pursuing traditional summer jobs like they used to,” says Challenger. Instead, many of them are volunteering, enrolling in educational programs or doing other things that may pad their college applications, he explains.
– bullshit.
Hey Rob in the never ending story , Stucky , loopy , Ed and the of you meatheads.I have been reading a book called You Gentiles… by Marcus Samuels
He states….We Jews ,we ,the destroyers , will remain the destroyers for ever .Nothing that you do will meet our needs and DEMANDS. We will forever destroy….. very interesting book .A Jew confessing thecollective sins of Jewry. Good read ,Brave man.
You wondering what does this have to do with teenagers refusing to take summer jobs.Think it through before you cry foul ball.
Fucking ridiculous, i worked from early on because if i didnt work i wouldnt have had shit. With no cash and no car all the free time in the world is boring as fuck.
These kids are future Free Shit Army privates, used to gettng stuff provided for them.
Then society will spend tax money on studies to try and determine why they are dumber, lazier, fatter and uglier than previous generations…
When my daughter turned 18 we kicked her out of the house because she wouldn’t pay rent of $300/month. She had $2,400 saved and thought she was rich. When she came back because she had no where to go, we told her she could come back once she showed use 2 cashed paychecks.
My first job was seasonal at a nursery when I was 16. Mainly cutting Christmas trees and putting them on people’s cars
The reason a lot less you people are working is because their grandparents are doing those jobs becoase they got wiped out in 2000 and again in 2008 and have no choice but to work until they die.
A lot of jobs no longer exist for summer work – as a teen, you may want to work for the summer but you may not be able to find a job.
Also, my summer job while I was a college student was, drumroll… The same job I was working during the school year.
bb at 5:24 pm,
Here you are going on with this Jewish stuff again on a post that has nothing to do with it. It’s like you are obsessed. It is hard to watch.You should be more careful.
So says the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Genesis 12:3: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
So says the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Zechariah 12:3: “On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.”
You curse the Jews and then become afflicted in your health. You want Jerusalem given back to the Arabs and then you injure yourself with a coughing fit that breaks your ribs. Think about it. You sound like Nazi lately. It may be these are the last days and God is a Zionist after all.
I worked full-time in HS, and almost everyone I knew at least worked part time. What hear from friends with teenagers is they can’t work because they need their extra-curriculars for college admissions.
Exhibit A in why this country is so screwed: One Mike Falco quoted in second to last paragraph above. What a douchebag and so are his clients. What the heck is going on in this country? Morals/ethics have been declining for years but in the last year they are dropping like a rock. And Mikey above says a summer job may interfere with college planning. Not only a major douchebag but an ahole as well. Out.
Around here the parks dept puts up signs all over the city offering summer jobs at $16/hour. I have no idea how many take the jobs but it must not be many because the signs are still up until they tidy the parks up for the winter.
There are plenty of other summer jobs for teens and college kids around here but I sure don’t see as many kids working in landscaping and construction as I used to.
On pointing , you are just like the rest of these Nickelodons .You seem to have no ability to see cause/effect in society. No you are incapable of asking the critical questions .Besides I ask you to think before you cry foul ball.
Did you reference the book ? No you didn’t. Shame on you .
Are teenagers lazy ? Probably but what or who destroyed the Protestant Work Ethic ?On pointing ,do you know what happened. Well do you ????
Wip ,no wonder you daughter hates you.
bb
I am quite flattered that I am included in same company as Lloph and Stucky. You have made my day.
Thank you!
bb, the book is silly. I read some quotes on the Darkmoon website that you seem to enjoy so much even though the ABOUT PAGE says: “Indian mysticism remains Lasha Darkmoon’s chief influence.” Snap out of it. Awake from witch Lasha’s spell and her Jezebeilan spirit and tell us about the jobs you held as a teenager instead.
Rob in no man’s land , I think lipoh is one of the smartest people on the internet when it comes to economics and running a business. He’s got decades of experience.
I think Stucky is knowledgeable in many areas. I enjoy his articles.
They are two of the reasons I keep coming back to the Burning Platform. So you are welcome!!!@
On pointing , you again … My jobs as a teenager . That’s simple .
1) from age 8or 9 till age 15 I helped my Grandparents on their farm.
2) from 16 till I finished high school I worked part time in a cotton mill.
If you want anymore information about my glamorous life you will pay me 50 bucks.
just two reasons. Are there more?
bb
My daughter doesn’t hate me. Well, she may not exactly sing my praises but she damn well respects me and she will eventually see the wisdom of those older than she.
Admin – bb the deadbeat moron is increasingly a blight on the site. He is stinking up thread after thread for no apparent reason. Just my two cents.
My favourite job/sarc as a kid was “rouging”.
It consisted of pulling undesirable weeds and plants out of pedigree crops. The worst was alfalfa. It grew hip deep and was more or less a vine. It grabbed at your feet as you walked through it. We’d have to wander up and down the fields in rows (usually about 6 of us wide) and pick sweet clover and other crap out of it. We got extra cash if we picked up deer sheds (they were hard on tractor tires). We’d pour over sections of the stuff over the course of a weekend in the sun without shade. I used to catch a few winks under the leaf cutter bee huts or in the cuts they made to get trucks into the field during lunch breaks. Wolf your food down – hit a bit of shade and sleep then repeat. It sucked. It was what my old man called “character building”. I pulled a lot of weeds. I must have built a shit pile of it.
llpoh says:
“Admin – bb the deadbeat moron is increasingly a blight on the site. He is stinking up thread after thread for no apparent reason. Just my two cents.”
In the same way that a Nigga is gonna nig, a bb is gonna………..well……assclown. Expecting him not to is like asking the Sun not to shine.
Hey injun chief , you should stick to economics and business. On other topics you’re very like the rest of these clowns.
I pointed out over and over what has led to so much of the destruction of America’s spiritual ,cultural ,religious and financial capital. The people behind this carnage .From 1913 to the present . In many ways you and others are still as blind as a bat.I have often wondered why. Why can’t or won’t you understand what is in your faces 24/7.I will not give up on any of you.
I think this is the reason …Because they refused to believe truth…. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion , that they may believe lies…2Thess 2:11 or the …Natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God…they are spiritually discerned..1 Cor 2:14.Your so called worldly smarts are nothing but a JUDGMENT from GOD.Now go worship a buffalo.
Llpoh: A man may be ignorant and very confounding/difficult to understand, but is he not allowed to speak?
That’s Jim’s call here…
Indentured servitude , I call you out over your sadistic joy when other people suffer or face horrible deaths and what happens ? You joke about it. This is one of the main reasons I trolled you about your stupid food.Now do you understand ? Your gleeful attitudes really got on my nerves.
Although I must confess you were the one person in God’s universe that got me to examine the Banking industry , the debt monetary system , fractional reserve banking and fiat money.For this I will always be grateful .
Cz – he is crapping on every thread on purpose. He is disrupting the site. That is all he does. He has no right to do that nor does his free speech right extend to a private site. The only thing you got right is that it is Admin’s decision.
One last thing ….As much as I have pissed and moaned about Jews , the Talmud and other Jewish malignancies that have done much harm to White Anglo Saxon culture I do find many things of worth in Jewish culture. I have spoken to numerous Jews on Jewish websites. Probably in the hundreds over the last several years . Most have been pleasant .Most know their history very well and admit to the conflict between Jews and Christians. Even the Bolsheviks genocide in Russia.I have enjoyed their honest conversation.I respect their view of education. Jews are probably the best educated group in America. I respect their loyalty to their tribe , their culture , their traditions. Most see their behavior as a means of survival. White Anglo Saxons can learn from Jews. I know I have.
Good night everyone.
LLPOH, chillax. I never take bibi serious. He is the I-S antidote, we still don’t know how many of the former commenters killed themselves after one too many of I-S’ dark and depressing comments. There has to be a reason for prognosticating a 4th turning but I-S takes it as a wonderful ad for coming events.
I don’t know why I read his shit, the assclown only manages to piss me off. At least Duouchebag and KaD only want to kill my amigos but I-S wants to see the whole world go up in flames.
As for bb
Don’t censor the site please. How many posters would we lose if we started censoring?
First they came for bb, but I was not bb so I did nothing.
Hey bb
What is the true reason Hitler came for the jews? This is a serious question.
Hi llpoh!
If you don’t like his comments, then skip them. Is that hard?
I believe he’s a lonely FedEx truck driver (sorry dude) that believes in the the saving shed blood of Jesus. Jesus is the Christ.
That is my paradigm as well. You don’t like? Oh well.
EC calling bb, Bibi. Subtle stuff. And funnier than shit.
This whole thread was EC. I’ll bet Admin can tell that from the IP addresses.
Had a funny moment today. First day kids are out of school. Got a farm full. Little 11 year old peckerhead rolls up to me, all serious, says he needs to talk to me in the office. Ooookay. In the office, he has two chairs set up, face to face. Little fucker is serious. Sits me down, gives me his pitch. He wants to work five hours a month, for five bucks an hour. Turns out he wants to get himself a cell phone. I told him he would have to start at the very very bottom. Pulling weeds, or cutting grass. I’m your man. Deal. Very impressive.
When I was a college student back in the 70’s, I worked construction jobs in the summer and got most all the money to pay for the next years tuition. I didn’t mind at all even though being a roofer in the summer isn’t a pleasant job. But I never took a student loan. I guess that’s too undignified for todays Snowflakes.
Iska, I like you in spite of what you might think, I named the Trump wall in your honor.
You make sense most of the time. Do not join that stupid fraternity, that cocksucking chorus that insists on blaming me for their troubles. I am not the puppet master. Oh sure, I have several monikers, I started out like Uncola, changing names often, for whatever reason, El Coyote got good responses, so I stuck with that for a while.
I’ll go back to that as soon as I regain my mojo. Don’t fuck it up for me by starting in on and old canard that I’m the brains behind bb, BW, or Fabulous even.
I do not fuck with admin or give him reason to consider banning me. When you see him reading me my rights, you’ll know I fucked up. Until then, I’m golden.
Gosh EC, I didn’t know you were the gay guy Fabu. BW does seem to only turn up at the same time you also start posting each day…weird huh?
lol!
Beebs
Just when you were starting to make sense, they are trying to kick you to the curb. Hang in there buddy and get well.
News Flash**********
Bill Clinton brags of sleeping with 2000 women…so says his girlfriend of 32 years.
Who gives a flying fuck, I know I don’t.
And he probably is sleeping.
I worked wherever I could get a paycheck while in school (through college):
– delivered subscription newspaper route (on a bicycle) – Philadelphia Bulletin
– delivered 500+ “Pennysaver”-type newpapers (free to every house) 2 times a week (1/2 day to fold/stuff and 1/2 day to deliver, each) – on a FULLY LOADED bicycle
– cook at Burger King
– driver for patients going to medical appointments
– electrician’s apprentice (unionized) helping to wire up a Trash-to-steam incinerator
– factory worker making Ball-Park franks and other hot dogs, bacon and boneless hams (I don’t eat hot dogs to this day)
– sold life insurance (licensed)
– bought a lawn mower at age 12 to start own lawn service business (5 customers max)
– food service in a retirement home (pot scrubber, dishwasher, waiter, busboy)
– food service in college cafeteria
– pizza delivery (best money out of all PT jobs)
– Liquor basket delivery
– research assistant
– data entry
– cold-calling for charitable donations
– Mock juror
– Litter collector (streets/playgrounds/nature trails) and general outdoor maintenance for planned housing development
– Snow shoveling whenever storms hit
There were very few times after I was 10 years old when I did not have some way to make my own money.