Teenager and first job

[HowmuchcanispendatChristmas]

So my 14 year old has their first job in a salon. Simple tasks ie making drinks and sweeping etc. Three Saturdays a month for about £120. They love the idea of the money but says it’s boring and got very upset about going in today. I’ve said this is the real world we don’t all like all aspects of our job. I know come next Saturday we will have a repeat of today tears etc about going in.
Now ainbu to say suck it up think of the money you can spend on your social life . If you don’t go don’t ask me to fund it for you . ( she begged me to help get her a job)

or Aibu and shouldn’t force her in .
Thanks

I would be encouraging her to stick it out for a few more weeks. My 14yr old was the same, she soon perked up when she got her wages!!
And for previous posters who mentioned, perfectly legal and imo not too young for a Saturday job.

Jesus thats a huge amount of money for being bored, sweeping up and making brews!

I'd point out just how much over the odds she is actually earning there and get her to have a think about it a bit more!

I'd imagine she feels she's missing out with her friends on a Saturday. Spending time with them was very important to me at that age. Perhaps payday and the freedom of the school summer holidays will change her mind about quitting.

14 is not too young to have a Saturday job. It’s never too early to learn the value of money and that it doesn’t magically appear, you have to earn it.

About a hundred years ago, when I was 13, I worked in an old fashioned greengrocers for £1.30 an hour, lugging round sacks of potatoes & boxes of apples. I was a girly girl and hated the dirt and “roughing it”, but hey - £1.30 is £1.30! I badly wanted the money (we were a single parent family on benefits, free school meals etc, so I didn’t get pocket money) so I knew I had to work for it.

Could it be that she is “bored” because she’s not allowed to play on her phone whilst working, and is struggling with that?

A younger relative once mentioned wanting “a nice Saturday job”. In my (probably very outdated) opinion, Saturday jobs aren’t supposed to be “nice”, they’re a way of making money. I guess it comes down to how much your DD wants the money. If she’s not bothered about earning money, then she would probably be happy to give up the job. However, there is a chance that she’ll quit, then a couple of weeks later realise she misses the money, but won’t be able to get that job back.

Yes, I know I’m a dinosaur.

If she doesn’t like it, then she can leave, although she’ll be hard pushed to find another job at 14.

Much more recently my son’s friend who was from a single parent family told me his first job was following the bin lorries round with a family friend washing them out, even getting inside to clean out the muck.

not nice at all but it gave him his first money and the chance to save up for nice things.

Yeah she needs to get a grip. Mine didn't like her first job either, but it got her the experience required to apply for another one that she did like. I just dropped her off every Saturday and she had to get on with it (if she wanted the money to afford all the clothes/make up she wanted)

Thank you everyone for your input. I'm glad the majority agree with me ( honestly I'm not a monster mum...anything she earns is hers to do with how she pleases) I just felt awful this morning when she was in tears . I think if she can stick it out a few weeks she'll feel better . I'm not going to pander to her but will guide her .

You can probably let her make her own decision without any disastrous consequences.

If she quits and has less money - she lives with that until she gets another (maybe better) job.

Feel free to talk things through with her, but ultimately, I'd let her do what she wants.

My second teenage job started off bad as it was a harsher environment and there was a horrible manager (who, as it goes, was let go at the end of her probation period) but it ended up being a decent job for me and I got a lot of life experience from it - for the better and worse. But I did it to myself. I could have left at any time. That was the advantage of living at home and being a teen. I wouldn't undo any of it. I learned a lot which set me up well for when it was "for real" in my adult life.

Why on earth are you finding her job?

Because she asked me to and was really happy about being independent and having her own money . Maybe she's not keen on the reality ...

Why does a 14 year old child need to be financially independent?

14 seems really young for a job
Mine didn’t work until after their exams

My 14 year old is desperate for a part time job. I wasn't sure anyone would take her on at this age though, maybe I was wrong.

It sounds like it’s doing her thr world of good. No need to be bored working in a salon or a shop - there is always something that will need doing. It might not be the most mentally taking work but she’ll learn the valuable skill of being proactive. She’s also being paid an enormous amount for a 14 year old.

It is perfectly legal.

I'd insist she stays until she gets her first wage. The reality of a big wedge of money might make the boredom more bearable.
But if she can't stick it, I would step back and let her leave. Don't make up the difference in what she has lost but don't punish her financially either. The lesson is you work you earn.
Maybe at 14 she doesn't yet have the maturity for this.
Someone else will be delighted to get that job if she gives it up.

My eldest tried lots of different part-time jobs through their teens and never really stuck with anything for long, except the occasional babysitting. This is a good age to try new things. Every job offers different learning opportunities. It did them a world of good to experience all those working environments, various co-workers and bosses, and find out about what skills they had and what suited them best.

Even if it's a mistake to give up the job, making their own mistakes is important.

She's hardly financially independent with a bit of spending money 🙄 she's not paying rent/bills/groceries, and OP doesn't expect her to contribute.

It's great that's she's working OP- maybe when she gets paid she'll learn that sometimes you have to do things you don't like to benefit you. And if she really hates it even after, she she can find herself something different! :)

Well maybe you could look it up so you'd actually know?

14 is young for a job. Maybe she should hold off until 16.

Because I don’t care enough - its not my problem. My grandsons got jobs when they were 16 and had NI numbers and proper workplace rights and protection.

I got a Saturday job when I was 15 but couldn't work more than 4 hours.

So if she is doing 4 hours, that is 12 hours over the month and she's earning £10 a hour. Wow. I think she needs to suck up the boredom. If someone is being unkind to her, that's a different thing but you say they're not.

I left a Saturday job (when I was 16) because I was bored with it, (and it started at 8am so I had to get up ridiculously early for a teen :) ) but I got a different one within weeks (which also had a higher rate of pay so I worked fewer hours for about the same money).

But you 'cared' enough to reply with something you only thought you knew. Why reply at all if you don't care? That's hilarious.

🙄