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).

Mostly at independent cafes round here.

Of my close friends with children, the couple whose children had part time jobs while at school, one child dropped out of uni. but went straight into a management job where he'd worked part time & is now in a successful professional career, the other went straight into a job on around £40k+ from university, has been promoted a couple of times since.

The two pushy families who didn't allow children to do any part time work while at school?
One child had drug and alcohol problems from early teens, dropped out of four universities before settling and graduating, one is still unemployed four years after graduating, another couple have a mid 20s degree educated child living at home and shelf stacking in a supermarket.

I have a 17 year old DD. I'd say about 70% of her friends have some sort of job, mostly local cafes, ice cream shops, pizza delivery places, supermarkets, fashion stores. Most doing 6-8 hours a week.

We are not in a deprived area where kids need to work to contribute to teh family funds. These are all kids working for pocket money or savings.

Sane here - lots of 17yo dd's friends are very comfortably off but choose to work regardless. I would say that it's more like 90% who work though. Or at least, 90% have worked, even if they don't actually have a job at present.

Getting a PT job is considered a bit of a rite of passage here, and those who haven't ever had a job are seen as a bit immature by their friends.

Yes we are a ‘nice’ area and grammar school with mostly middle class intake yet most seem to be working or looking for work in the sixth form.

One of DS friends since aged four has seen his mates go into college vocational, university. His parents never expected him to work. GCSE results blah so went to tech. Did ok there but the minimum, then went back to bed. He's since done a bit of part time work, pub, shop. Finally he's decided what he wants to do so is an apprentice in a job he should have applied for 5 years ago. Meanwhile his mates are flying, apprentice finished or university done.

I do blame his parents dad university lecturer ditto mum. He was the kid who was late for school most days. Had to finish the cartoon on TV at breakfast time. Had to finish call of duty before home work.

I'd have kicked him out of bed, banned TV, x box which I did at times pushing him into work weekends school holidays

Working at that age is a good thing as it not only helps them to earn money but it looks good their CV and helps prepare them for the world of work. If it doesn't interfere with studies it can only bring benefits.
I worked at that age and it helped with getting a part time job at university when there were 5 applicants per job. It helped with full time jobs after university as well as it showed I could hold down a job and work with other people.
A couple of my friends who didn't have jobs until they left university found it a lot harder to settle into a fulltime job and the expectations it brought. Some found it harder to get a job in the first place (but that might be because of the industry they went into)

Not all are going off to Uni. Our DS is doing a practical BTec and his part time job complements that.

plus he’s grown up MASSIVELY since starting work in June.

for me I cannot see any reason why 16+ can’t have a job and go to do a levels or BTec or whatever, and still get a good Uni place. It’s just lazy not to have a job IMO if it’s possible to get one.

Completely normal. You have quite a few free periods when doing A levels so if you use that time to study, there's enough time to do part time work as well. I did flyering when I was 17 then worked three nights a week in a pub when I was 18. I used to do reading/revision in the pub on Monday nights because it was really quiet. My younger siblings worked in a shop, pubs and did babysitting.

It depends.A holiday job - yes, but depending on workload.it may nor be possible in termtime.It's difficult to find a job that are just a few hours per week.Dd2 has so much homework with 4 a levels she was getting up at 5.30 am to finish it.catching bus at 8 am. Home at 4.50.it was just too much

Completely normal, mine got lucky because they were paid for their hobby but most had jobs