Teenagers (under 18s) and part time jobs

[Fancynancyclancy2]

Normally I very much agree that once a teenager is 16 that getting a part time job is important to teach them about money. However with everything that has happened due to COVID and unemployment getting higher with it expected to increase even more I’m taking a different view that these jobs should be given to those who now find themselves unemployed.

It just doesn’t sit comfortably with me that jobs just got for a bit of pocket money are competing with people who are trying to just keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

I have a DD who is almost 16 and I don’t think I will be encouraging her to get a job but to earn money around the house but wider family have disagreed with this view.

AIBU?

Yabvu. For dc such as mine, it is about the life experience and skills, the money is nothing more than extra savings/ spends. For other dc the money is absolutely essential, whether that be to top up household income, for their own present needs or savings for driving lessons, uni etc.

Do you think every adult with a part time job just for extra disposable income, or to top up a pension should leave the roles for those that need the money to live on? Or is it just teens that should sacrifice themselves for the greater good?

@TrainspottingWelsh no I don’t think every adult with a part time job should give it up hence why my post is about 16/17 year olds. Over 18s, unless In higher education, should be working and contributing and being financially independent because they are an adult, however younger than that there is still a financial obligation on parents to provide the necessities.

I understand that this isn’t always possible but that is a different scenario to getting a job to afford luxuries, socialising etc.

My son , now 17, is in college and has a job three or four days a week. He had a job in a cafe when 16 and was made redundant during the first lockdown. As soon as shops reopened he got his current job.
I don't think older adults would take either of these jobs- he gets slightly better than minimum wage for it. But it helps me out as I don't have to give him money for hair cuts and going out, and my income dropped significantly due to covid.
This summer my daughter turns 16. I'll be happy if she gets a part time job. I doubt she'll be taking any job away from a more experienced adult.

YABU and in a very fortunate position. In any case, 16 year old can be paid a lot less than 25 + year old so there will always be jobs for 16 year olds. Ds20 has worked in a variety of jobs and it means he picked up temporary work when sent home from uni in March very easily due to his experience. Dd17 has worked all through the pandemic in a care home, alongside her a levels. Its given her great life experience, confidence and time.management skills. She is also a valued member of staff earning twice the minimum wage for her age.

I get your point, but some employers only want some part time workers at weekends for short hours. It also saves them money. My ds has a casual contract and usually works 2-3 hours Saturday or Sunday to suit the cafes needs.

And he does it for £4:75 an hour!

The job will just go to another 16 or 17 year old? Why disadvantage your child? She needs occupation, experience and to contribute as much as anyone. And has been affected like everyone.

@Fancynancyclancy2 plenty of over 18's have pt jobs simply for luxuries and socialising etc. A sahp with a pt job to fund family holidays can rely on their partner for necessities, every over 65 can rely on their pension for necessities etc. I'm not seeing the difference tbh.

@TrainspottingWelsh I’m a mum with a pt job, I have that because I’m not a kept woman, it’s both my partners and myselfs obligation to contribute to the household, why should I as an adult be kept for my necessities by a man, and if you think a pension is enough to live on then clearly you are not of pension age and had to live off that small amount.

My ds is 17, 18 in March. He’s in year 13 doing his A levels and has anxiety and Aspergers. He doesn’t have a job and I don’t encourage him to.

He has so much work it’s unreal. One of his A levels is drama and theatre and is unbelievably his hardest subject as the sheer amount of studying, reading and rehearsing he has to do would leave him little time for a job. His dad has a business that he can help out at if he wants to but his anxiety has gone ten times worse due to covid.

When recently doing his UCAS form he had very little to put on the work/volunteered section and I worry this may go against him.

Thankfully we don’t need him to get a job. I do expect him to get a part time job when he starts university next year, more for the skills he will acquire rather than the money.

Most of his large group of friends don’t have jobs but have everything.
When i was his age i always had a part time job around sixth form. I can’t imagine relying on your teen’s wage to contribute to the household.
That shocks me to be honest but i also know I’m really naive, despite growing up on a very rough council estate.

No way any of mine are working at the moment
I can support them and am prepared to do do

Exactly op. Some sahps and pensioners need a pt job. So it would be entirely unreasonable to expect them as a whole to leave the jobs for others simply because not all sahps and pensioners work purely for luxuries. But at the same time you think it's entirely reasonable that under 18's that need a job should sacrifice that for over 18's. Makes perfect sense.

as a teenager you're supposed to do a 30 hour week at school, another 10 hours a week of homework, and then throw another 10 - 20 hours of work on top of that.

Weekly, yr12 DS does
5 hours of commuting to/from college
2 hours of commuting to/from work
6.5-8 hours of paid work
~ 20 hours of lessons (no way is it close to 30)
5-10 hours of homework

That ~7 hours would be filled with playing more video games if not working.

update... DS says he has 15 hours of lessons/week & he's told to expect to do about 15 hrs/week of homework. Realistically he's doing 6 hrs/week to get homework done. So that's 21 in total, 30 as upper bound it could reach, not 30 + another 15 for homework.

Muttering about Python debugging fails right now...

My teens were on 10 hour contracts so not enough for a person needing a full-time wage.

How do you know everyone else needs the money to live? Jobs should go to the best person and teens will remain in demand as minimum wage is less for younger people.

I agree with you OP but appreciate that I am lucky that at the moment I can afford to take that position

In any case I prefer mine to concentrate on their studies and sports

My 16 year old has a part time job. He doesn't do particularly well at school and doesn't have any major sporting achievements or DofE. So it will give him something to put on his CV.

He's using the money to save up for tech and to buy shit off Amazon as far as I can tell.

I doubt very much that his 12 hours a week means that someone else won't be able to feed their kids. But the job was open to all and he applied and got it and I feel no moral shame in encouraging him in that whatsoever.

My 3 dc all worked through 6th form - but, one of the advantages of the often maligned in the media zero hour contract is that they pick up more shifts when they need to and don't put themselves forwards for shifts when time is more pressured.
A-level students don't have a full 'taught' timetable in school and the homework / self study / revision hours can be done during their study periods so a Part Time job is 100% possible to fit in for the overwhelming majority of pupils.
Many manage it whilst also continuing hobbies, sports, volunteering etc.

A teenager is not necessarily cheaper. Yes their hourly salary is less, but the employer would have to put in place child safeguarding procedures and comply with strict child labour laws. Many employers don’t employ under 18s because of the additional burden it creates.

Ds1 has been working at Sainsbury's for many months now. I'm really pleased he's got a job. I don't agree with OP that it prevents any family man getting a full time job. They are totally incomparable things.

LOL, about not being a kept woman.

I've had people have a go at me for having the temerity to have a job, part-time or otherwise, when we can manage perfectly well on DH's salary - I'm taking a job and a salary that a man, or a single woman could have.

You can't do right for doing wrong, can you?

A teenager is not necessarily cheaper. Yes their hourly salary is less, but the employer would have to put in place child safeguarding procedures and comply with strict child labour laws. Many employers don’t employ under 18s because of the additional burden it creates.
There's not much to it, DH got DS a job at his company. There was a few extra forms to fill in and that's all.

Exactly @Twobrews, hardly anything to it. My ds does the tasks no one else really wants to do! He does the pot washing and other tasks that are low risk and can do unsupervised. He’s a valued member of the team.

My personal feeling on this is probably partly swayed by my parents being obsessed with me having a job, probably because they did, from 14 onwards. They didn’t understand child labour laws had changed.

I found it really miserable. It didn’t help me in my future career snd in fact hindered me.

I’ll encourage mine to do voluntary work as a cv filler but not paid work. They need to focus on their a levels.

two friends with similar age children to each other (now mid 20s)

Friend with children who worked through sixth year/uni etc. Both did well at A level, never been out of work, both in jobs with good career progression prospects, both have a good attitude to money, one of them got a first.

Friend with children that couldn't possibly have the stress of working as teenagers - one of them tried four different unis before she settled down and graduated. Although not working, had enough cash to develop alcohol and drug habit as a teenager. The other one did stick uni, and last time I heard was still working as a barista four years after qualifying.

Working part time jobs is about so much more than the cash earned.