To think it's normal for 16/17 year olds to have part time jobs alongside their studies

[sheepdogdelight]

DD (16) has recently started a part time job - she's working 6 hours a week, around her A Levels. Older DD also worked part time when he was 16/17, stopping at the end of March in Year 13 so that he could focus on his exams.

Virtually all their peers also have/had jobs at some point or another at age 16/17 - weekend socialising was often a logistical exercise to find the best time around who was working when.

IMO it's good for them to have a job at this age - it helps them become more self confident, builds independence, allows them to gain some valuable "soft" skills. Plus of course they like the money :)

However, was talking to someone about this who looked horrified that they should be taking time away form studying to work and that her own 17 year old would certainly not be working. She also suggested it was not the norm amongst her DC's peer group.

For the record, we have had the conversation about studies must come first and if the job ever impacts on studying, they need to reconsider. However my DC (and their peers) all seem to be able to juggle perfectly well!

AIBU to think it's normal and desirable for 16/17 year olds who are studying to have jobs around their study? (I'm assuming here that there is suitable part time work available, of course - but at the moment retail/hospitality seem to have loads of vacancies).

When I was 16 I was full time in college and worked weekends. At one point I used to work all day Saturday in a salon and then go home for tea, then back out to work in a pub glass collecting all evening, then back sunday to do waitressing and kitchen work. I did my studying in the evenings after college.

I think it’s good - skills I learned in my part time job in 6th form helped me get an entry level job in my field, in which I have now worked my way up.

I worked 12 hours a week through 6th form, one evening and Saturdays. I had hobbies too! I think learning to drive was critical though so I could get myself around. Might’ve been harder for an august birthday who wasn’t driving until well into year 13.

There was some research at one point that suggested that up to about 5h/week was fine, but much more and it had an impact on their studies.

One sixth form college, after that, worked with the local supermarkets to get them to offer suitable shifts, which the college were then happy to advertise.

At one school I taught in, sixth formers were the mainstay of the cleaning team - ideal in terms of hours and travel.

I would say it's not the norm among my DC's friends. Maybe some work in the school holidays or the odd night of babysitting or whatever, but not a regular part time job at age 16.

One thing I said to 16 yr old DD was to get in now whilst there’s an abundance of jobs to get some experience.

I used to do waitressing, cleaning, factory work in a canning factory, retail…….. if anything I think these jobs encourage kids to study, they are damn hard physically exhausting jobs and are a great incentive to study hard and qualify to do work that doesn’t leave you aching and bone tired at the end of an uncomfortable shift.

Funnily enough the only two people in my family who didn’t have teenage jobs because their parents thought it would interfere with their studying are now unemployed ( and pretty much unemployable) , because the perfect job that would have justified their amazing intellect never actually appeared on their plate and their work ethic is so poor they don’t have the nous to go looking. Not to mention that their cv is a blank sheet of paper.

I know of lots of 16/17 year olds who would like to have jobs but can't get them.
Working retail on weekends used to be a fairly common job for that age but retailers do stupid things now like give 4 hour contracts but the person will be expected to pretty much do 20 hours - on any random day at any random time.
So 6th Formers/college kids can't do that.
A lot of companies also don't want under 18s because of all the rules over hours they can work or safeguarding rules.

DS (17) and most of his friends have part time jobs. Some work in cafes & restaurants, one is a lifeguard, one is a tennis coach, one at a golf club. Even the friend who’s parents are multi millionaires works part time at a supermarket!

It would be different if their school work was suffering but they’re all doing very well at school & I think it’s really good for their work ethic.

The local posh supermarket (Booths) is entirely staffed by sixth formers in the evening. It’s easy work they chat and stack shelves and serve the odd customer (it’s always deserted at night)

Most of my friends DCs had part time jobs during sixth form about 8 - 12ish hours a week but it all depends on the child.

I saw it is a fab intro to the working world and all the soft skills you need plus giving DC the expertise of organising themselves ahead of uni.

Both mine had jobs, studied, socialised and played a sport. Kept them busy but not exhausted. Also during uni years they were able to work in previous jobs over summer holidays, so they had extra pennies for fresher week 😉

I would expect my DC to be doing some sort of paid work when sixth form age (appreciate it's difficult younger than that due to employer reluctance although I personally don't think it should be - think 14 is old enough- I was doing 5 hours in a shop on Saturdays at 14- loved having that money). I do think one of the problems we have at the moment is that there's a lot of childhood on the end of genuine childhood and we're losing that transition period where teens would combine education and PT employment. Unless they have time consuming hobbies that's a lot of time to be bored and purposeless in.

I'm not sure I really see how 3 A Levels is taking up so much time they don't have time to do 8-12 hours work a week. Not if they organise themselves, use their free periods properly and don't waste hours on tiktok.

Normal for me and my sister. I had a paper round age 14, worked in supermarket, 9 hours, during A levels.That was the 80's though - my nieces didn't.

Depends on what they are studying, and what sporting/volunteering commitments they may have.

My eldest does sporadic garden work and has a few customers, but he’s sitting Maths, Chem and Biology A levels which are arguably harder than many other quals. He also and plays competitive rugby and does other sport, but not, he doesn’t have a job so to speak.

And it’ll be his last year of doing so too.

My sixth form back in the 2000s strongly discouraged us from getting a job. Not that they’d stop you obviously, but that was their stance. To be fair, we had a lot of bloody homework - especially compared to my peers at other sixth forms and colleges.

I think as with anything it comes down to the individual and their family. There is no right or wrong and either way is “normal”. I remember a lot of my friends back then having jobs they were constantly ringing in sick for and late all the time, moving from one place to the next because their parents insisted they work, but they truly couldn’t be arsed. And other friends who did not have a job but were extremely studious, spending all their “free” time partaking in various fancy-sounding hobbies and interests to pad out their UCAS statement. I suppose I just don't think that not working at 16 is a straightforward mark of laziness.

I think it's normal and a good idea - helps kids realise what they don't want to do when they get older, so they put more effort into their studies, learn a work ethic and have the satisfaction of earning their own money.

I had a Saturday job from 15. I didn't have much in the way of holiday jobs at uni because there wasn't much around at the time, but always worked at weekends while at sixth form. I only worked 4 hours on a Saturday and the occasional Sunday in the summer or extra shifts in the summer holidays so it didn't affect my studies.

I honestly don’t think it’s that normal nowadays, from what I can tell.

I also think it is related to what the child is actually doing education wise at this age, and what they want to do in the future.

I don’t think you need to work in a pub, to realise that you don’t want to work in a pub though.

It depends on commute too. My DC is at local school so 10 mins on bus and her job is 2 mins walk.
She has 4 taught hours per week per A level and I think they recommend 4 hours self study per A level on top at this stage of yr 12. She’s currently on 4 A levels as it’s their starting requirement but then they drop to 3 A levels in most cases (except further maths) This is an academic high achieving grammar.
My experience is all the high achieving children seem to have lots on not just studying.

I had a part time job, but I am very money driven, and it definitely affected my A Levels as I worked as much as I could around school.

I couldn't have mentally coped with studying and a job personally

Absolutely the norm for our DCs and their friends. DS is 17 and really struggled to get a job but has just started working at McDonalds. DD is adult now but worked from 16, as did most of her friends.

I agree about the commute. In year 12, using buses/train it was almost 1.5 hour commute each way to college for my son. He’s in year 13 now and he can drive so it’s more like 50 minutes but can be more depending on traffic. 4 days a week he’s not home til almost 5.30pm due to his timetable, lots of long gaps between lessons. Then dinner and homework, sports commitments two weeknights and all day Saturday. He has some later starts at college 10.30, leaving home at 9.30 but can’t work before that. It only really leaves him Sunday but he usually has more college work to do and does need some downtime.

Of course YANBU for all the reasons you mentioned.

Independence, confidence, skills etc.

It's the kids that have everything handed to them on a plate that turn into insufferable brats, demanding 'gap years' and brand new cars from Mummy and Daddy that get on my wick! They also have no idea how to support themselves if they go on to Uni etc either (and have no experience of waiting tables, customer service etc).

Its fine for your kids to work as well if they can manage it and it has a lot of benefits. But, as someone who left school at 16 and went straight into work with minimum qualifications and spent years catching up, I want to give my kids the chance to get the best possible grades for their future in the simplistic way. If they can get As whil working, great. But if they get Bs hen perhaps they would benefit from using those hours to study. But it depends on the course they want to do after.

Of course it's normal. How else do they get spending money?

I think its totally normal and i want my daughter to get a jib at 16. However, i do think it comes down to what a-levels they intend to take etc. So if you have a studious and hard working child doing 3 sciences and maths, who wants to be an astronaut, i would support them if they didnt have a job.

But, if my child was lazy and putting minimum effort in, or taking "easier" subjects where theyre not in college full time, theyd have to get a job for sure.