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Original poster

To expect A level son to have weekend job

153 replies

Gomango · 09/04/2017 17:39

My argument us that he does nothing college work wise over the weekend. Hanging out, being hungover, on gadgets. Refuses to get job til exams done. I eouldn't mind if he was revising or handing assignments in on time.

OP posts:
Glittter · 09/04/2017 19:00

YANBU. I grew up with parents who were affluent but they encouraged us to work and didn't just dish out money. I had a Saturday job from when I was 16yo and loved having my "own" money.

I will be encouraging my dc to do the same. There are so many jobs for 16yo's -our Waitrose is full of them!

BestIsWest · 09/04/2017 19:02

I worked during A levels 35 years ago and do did most of my friends. Saturdays in the Coop.

user1487194234 · 09/04/2017 19:02

I think they have a long time to work Smile

rookiemere · 09/04/2017 19:05

I had a Sunday job and my parents made me give it up fir my actual A level year, which in hindsight I think was the right thing to do. Id focus more on asking him if he's done his course work and studying rather than trying to make him get a part time job at this stage.

StillDrivingMeBonkers · 09/04/2017 19:11

Where are these mythical jobs all your children seem to have?

Here, hair dressers won take on 'Saturday girls' unless they already have a college placement for hairdressing, or a beauty course, because they need the experience to qualify.

Both Bluewater and Lakeside shopping centres only take Y13's, so they are all but 18.

Most cafés are family owned so those jobs stay 'in house'.

If you are getting the child allowance, then to expect the child to go out to work is a bit much IMHO. Remember the age of participation (school leaving age) is now 18.

Also, EMA no longer applies to England.

I did read last week that the number of sub 18s with 'Saturday' jobs (or any job in conjunction with full time education) is at the lowest point ever, 27%, a lot of this is due to H&S legislation. I can't immediately find the article.

www.gov.uk/child-employment/minimum-ages-children-can-work

www.gov.uk/know-when-you-can-leave-school

TheFairyCaravan · 09/04/2017 19:11

Both our boys started work as soon as they finished their GCSEs. It meant they could have cars, holidays with their mates, clothes that we deem too expensive to buy and nights out.

We live in a very rural area, there's precious little round here, but still the vast majority of teens manage to find jobs.

When DS2 got to uni, he was there 3 weeks before he got a job, and was one of their first of his mates to do so. They said one of the things that swung it for him was he had work experience and a good reference.

BackforGood · 09/04/2017 19:12

Thats one of the advantages of zero hours contracts - you are no longer committed to working 9 - 5 each Saturday in Woolworths with no time off. Virtually all the youngsters I know work shifts on a flexible basis. My dd is about to take her a-levels. As such, she has done very few shifts since the Autumn, but will once again pick up loads after her exams. She's funded her driving lessons, test, ins. for a year on my car, and is now buying ( and insuring) her own first car . She is very proud of what she has a chieved, and fully intends to carry on working throughout university too.

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2017 19:13

Among Ds and his peers they are either in retail, pot washing at pubs, or at McDonalds. No myths.

wellhonestly · 09/04/2017 19:14

DS1 took on a weekend job at a local tourist attraction at 16, and now has a Sunday job closer to home with fewer hours.

Entirely his choice, and I wouldn't pressure a DC still at school to get a job. He actively looked for a job to help meet the costs of his (quite expensive) hobby. I think he is also saving for life post-school but it's hard to tell how much!

I am still responsible for meeting his normal living expenses: food, clothes etc, and I meet half the expenses of his hobby.

wellhonestly · 09/04/2017 19:18

For people asking what jobs people's kids have:

  1. working in the booking office of a tourist attraction, taking calls, selling tickets, dealing with customers.
  2. 4 hours a week in the local library on a Sunday afternoon, dealing with customers, issuing and shelving books, and running a kids' club.
TheFairyCaravan · 09/04/2017 19:18

Some of the retail outlets our kids and their friends worked in include the Co-Op, Wilkos, Homebase, Fat Face, Cotton Traders,Waitrose, McDonalds.

Smaller local shops, bakeries, hotels, golf clubs, pot washing, garden centres and stables. Some hairdressers do take kn Saturday staff too, my friend wanted one for ages and found it nigh on impossible to fill the post.

ElisavetaFartsonira · 09/04/2017 19:25

At this point in the academic year, no I wouldn't want one of mine working if it could be avoided. That's not to say he shouldn't also be putting more effort into his studies, he should. But I'd want that to be the priority unless the family needed him to work, and I can't see how a Saturday job would be conducive to that.

raspberryblue · 09/04/2017 19:31

Kitchen work at local pubs and hotels. It's hard graft, but I loved it as teenager. I had money in my pocket, and it was mine. Unfortunately it is a little bit about who you know, and easier if one of your friends is already there etc. I used to do Wednesday night shifts and Saturdays, sometimes Sunday's as well when doing my A Levels. So no definitely not being unreasonable. It's a good life experience and a way of earning money for concert tickets etc. I had loads more money than my friends that didn't work, as I could spend it how I pleased. That first glimmer of independence. Also it was the only way I could buy clothes I liked - other option was to not work and let my lovely DM buy my clothes - not the same taste at that age anyway. These days I will happily borrow swipe clothes from my DMs wardrobe.

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2017 19:43

The confidence thing can't be underestimated IMO. It's been more than just him earning money.

TheFairyCaravan · 09/04/2017 19:46

I agree, Sparkling. Our two became a lot more confident as a direct result of their weekend jobs, especially DS1.

5moreminutes · 09/04/2017 19:51

Do you have a Saturday/ second job Gomango ? Wink

Whilst there are a lot of good reasons to encourage an older teen to find a weekend job, it's odd to resent the fact that someone in full time education Monday to Friday uses their weekends as down time (the same way someone in full time office hours work might) rather than getting a Saturday job...

Work in the holidays especially the summer, absolutely! Weekend job in term time if they are in full time education, it isn't financially necessary and they don't want to would seem like double standards unless you are also working two jobs or doing overtime to pay the bills (in which case it's a financial near necessity that everyone does what they can to help).

cardibach · 09/04/2017 19:52

A levels are (or should be) hard work. I deliberately funded DD so she didn't need to work in term time because, as a teacher, I know that those students who work do worse than I would otherwise expect. She wasn't eligible for EMA but I funded her to that extent. She worked holidays so has had good work experience and has had no trouble getting other jobs as a student.

TheDisappearingUser · 09/04/2017 19:56

Please, whatever you do, do not ask on a social media site for a job for your teen. We employed a girl whose mother had done this and it was one of our biggest mistakes. She is clearly only working because her parents forced her to and it is painful for everyone.

As opposed to some of the great kids we have. We then ask if their mate should want a job, they do and work out great as they are doing it because they want to!

Also, do not write their cv. We have a few we were sent lately and it is cringingly obvious the parent wrote it. We would rather a person who was elected fmotovated with a few mistakes on their cv for their first job than either of the above!

melj1213 · 09/04/2017 19:56

TBH I'm 27 but even when I was doing A-levels there were precious few true "Saturday jobs" available (I live in a decently sized coastal town in the Lake District) for the amount of teenagers looking for one. Most places would prefer to have an existing staff member cover the Saturday shifts rather than just hire someone for a few hours one day a week, or need someone with more flexibility than many students can give. Not only that, a lot of the more vocational part time jobs are now being taken up by students using them for apprenticeship work placements and since it's often cheaper and easier to employ students on apprenticeship wages than proper wages the companies encourage it

I ended up going to work out in one of the 5* hotels out in the Lakes the summer after my GCSEs because they were the only people taking on teenagers at the time ... but I ended up having to quit because my A levels started to suffer. Despite us agreeing that I could only do one weekend day each week (so I could have one day for work and one day for study/socialising) they seemed to think that they could mess me around and because I was only a teenager I'd just take it. They were quite shocked when I followed through with my warning that I'd quit if they kept breaking their promises.

It's not easy to "just get a job" nowadays, when my mum was at school everyone had a Saturday job and it was just a case of going in to a shop, asking if they had a job and then agreeing a start date after a quick chat ... I wish that had been the case when I was a student and I wish it was still the case now!

happypoobum · 09/04/2017 20:00

My DC both worked Saturdays and school holidays odd days from age 16. All their friends do too, even those who are far better off than we are.

It would be seen as exceptional not to work.

Loads of PT jobs where we are. If OP says there are jobs where she is then yes, her DS should be working. I worked PT from age 14 and still got excellent A level results and went to uni.

Ragwort · 09/04/2017 20:03

if he doesn't want a job, then I don't see why he should have to have one - well, you could say that about anyone or anyone of us for that matter - it would be rather nice not to have to go to work - but there are bills to be paid Hmm.

I do appreciate it isn't easy for many youngsters to get a Saturday job, but the least they can do is at least try and find one - or use their initiative to do car washing/dog walking/babysitting etc. I would love a teenager to come and wash my car once a week. Grin.

BellyBean · 09/04/2017 20:10

ifnhes first year a levels then agree he should get a job, if this is his last push, don't see the point in getting one until the summer.

He should definitely get a summer job though. I was working full time with two weeks off over the summer in a tourist hotspot.

ElisavetaFartsonira · 09/04/2017 20:14

True melj, and worth pointing out OP must be in Wales, Scotland or NI. None of those three countries is doing brilliantly economically, much though not all would be comparable to the situation in Cumbria. I wouldn't want mine with a job before summer now even if there were loads, but there may not be much.

PuppyMonkey · 09/04/2017 20:19

Is he getting on ok with his A levels?

klondikecookie · 09/04/2017 20:23

When I was doing my a levels, I didn't have a weekend job and those who did were very much the exception, rather than the rule.