My 16 year old doesn't want to get a summer job - not sure what to do

[tobeforgotten]

my 16 year-old worked for eight hours yesterday as a one-off making £45 and does regular chores in the house for which he gets £5/week.

He has said that he doesn't feel the need to get a summer job. That when he feels productive he would rather study calculus (this is true, at least in the sense that he lies around reading Fermat's last theorem).

I am torn, to be honest. My instinctive reaction is "it was good enough for me and your father, go down to the shops and get a job". But I'm not actually sure why.

He is kind and charming and can make friends and impress teachers very easily.

On a side-note, we are also slightly unsure how you go about getting a summer job in 2016- as I say we used to pace the high street.....

Does he like having cash to spend.? So long as he isn’t expecting you to give him handouts then I suppose you don’t need to force him to look for a job.
My DS has always liked having money to spend so he goes out looking for work & at 16 was doing a newspaper round & a bot of pot washing in local restaurants. At 16 he also did the NCS during the summer & a bit of volunteering to keep busy during the long summer break.

Well at 16 he should be funding his own social life and extras. You may be happy to fund these Indefinitely but you’d be doing him a disservice. In your shoes I would say fine, don’t get a summer job but you’ll not be getting money for anything.

He’d be better getting a job in 2019 than 2016.

If he isn’t bothered about having lots of cash, does it really matter if he doesn’t get a job? I know it’s character building, but he’s got plenty of time for that.

Is he good at eBay etc, maybe he could sell stuff in his spare time to make a few quid.

So where does he get his spending money from? What if he wants to go to cinema? Out with the mates? The school summer holidays is a long time to be stuck indoors! So long as he isn't expecting pocket money, that's fine.

If you are thinking about 'experiences' & CV stuff, there is always voluntary work.

I am not sure that exploitative zero hours waiting around retail type work is that useful in the end.

He'll have enough years of working; let him have the summer to relax.

I won't be making my dc get a job while they are still in full time education tbh. Dh and I are both teachers and have the summer holidays off work, so it would seem a bit off to force the dc to spend the summer working, especially if they've just been doing GCSEs. They can get a job if they want, of course. I had a Saturday job when I was in the 6th form, but I chose to.

Mine didn't. I have 2 that have left school and they both got part time jobs after doing their highers. They were not remotely held back because they didn't work when they were 16. One started work at 17. The other was 18.

thanks. yes, a job in 2016 may be hard to find at this point!

I was expecting everyone to tell me to tell him to get out pacing the streets.

Re money, he has a few thousand pounds in the bank and £5/week coming in from us (which he does earn - I would say he easily does an hour of chores) and he doesn't spend much.

But I am concerned that he will start spending the "capital" of the money he has.

I do like the Ebay idea.

I wanted him to do painting round the house but we both realise that we'll end up arguing (he does not paint well.... and I'm probably not the person to teach him).

We always took the attitude with ours that if you want money, you have to work for it. That's the way the world goes.

If you are happy with the £5 a week pocket money I can afford to give you and the basic £12 a month phone deal that is fine. Feel free not to do anything except the expected (odd) chores around the house.

If you have a yearning for things that cost more than you have - then get a job. Your choice entirely.

My 16 year old isn't working this summer.

Firstly he has spent a lot of his free time in the evenings revising his backside off for GCSEs.

Secondly, he is already learning things for his sixth form courses and he is introverted and finds social interactions with strangers a bit of a challenge.

He is up at 7am - his choice, spends time with his younger brother before he goes off to school. He does some gaming in the day but mostly spends it in a much more productive manner. His friends are also introverts, loud when you get them altogether in the same room, but they communicate over headsets whilst gaming or just on the computer.

He hardly ever asks for money for things so we don't see the need for him to get a job which will be unrelated to his career choice. Both Dh and I worked from 14, Saturday jobs and then summer jobs.

Wher did he get the few thousand? That was a mistake.

gifts of money when he was born, the old Government Trust Fund, regular presents of £250/year from my mum.

I had less but similar as a kid - but I considered it sacrosanct - ended up using it towards a gap year, which I think is legitimate. Certainly didn't fritter it away

I would leave it up to him. If he is happy with the small amount of money then fair enough. It isn't very easy to get summer jobs for that age now really to be honest.

Thousands isn't a small amount of money

Mine is 17 and would love a job but can only get odd days in pub/festivals etc. He applied to all the supermarkets, Greggs and McDonald's. Didn't even get an interview. I think it's much harder these days.

There was another thread similar to this recently. I’ll see if I can find it.

Can he access that trust fund money at 16? I think 'summer jobs' as a discrete category have declined but maybe he could earn some bits of supplementary money doing jobs for you or others - babysitting, mowing the lawn, etc?

Whether he gets a job should be up to him but if I were you I’d be far more concerned about him having access to savings that came from the sources you list, and being able to waste it on nothing. Money that has been gifted over the years should be used for something like education, a car, travelling or a house deposit and I would be extremely concerned if my child had access to do what they wished with it at just 16. Especially given that they have shown no interest in working, it seems they are intending to use it now which I would be so disappointed about.

Mine worked in chippys/restaurants from 15, depends on area though probably

I'd have some chats about what he's wanting to do over the next couple of years........ wanting to learn to drive and then wanting to own their own cars was the incentive for my 3. Does he think he wants to go to University ? To travel ? To go on holiday with his mates ? Have a better phone or other tech ?
Perhaps just let him know it is worthwhile earning bits and bobs when he doesn't need to and he has time to, if he can get a job, than waiting until he might be more stressed / have less time.
Ultimately though, up to him. You can't really 'make' him.

I agree with the poster above. It seems such a shame to spend that money piecemeal when it could be used for an amazing experience like a gap year or a first car or similar.

Yes please loveislandaddict.

Re the money given over the years, funnily enough it is sitting in a Halifax account still controlled by me and he has just opened a TSB account in his own name so as to get a cash card and he has put mum’s latest £250 in it.

In the light of this mumsnet conversation I’m going to delay the transfer of the Halifax money to th3 easy-access TSB

I had a part-time job from 13 and expect my DC to do so as well. We live in a touristy area though where its easy to find work but all teenagers here work, it would be unheard of not to. Dishwashing, waiting, babysitting, shop work.

I think it massively broadens horizons, encourages independence and reduces the expectancy that parents do/pay for everything for them. I would be horrified if my teenager spent their savings as an alternative to working for their spending money.

If you don't need the income, why would you insist on a 16 year old working? He has his whole life to work. I'm certainly not expecting either of my DDs to get summer jobs - they've both just come out of GCSEs/A levels and need the rest.

And honestly, not having a summer job doesn't mean you're going to be unemployable for life.