Cost of living. Teens with no jobs

[monkeysox]

The whole COL crisis is exacerbated by huge supermarket chains (one example) who are making huge profits. They don't employ as many young people (automation) so the cost of the kid's needs falls on the parents who have huge bills themselves.
I always had a Saturday or evening job.
Businesses aren't hiring nearly as much as 30 years ago.
Aibu?

No you’re not.

But what can be done about it?

YANBU. Entry level jobs are far fewer than when I was a teen and jobs requiring qualifications and experience barely pay above minimum wage anymore. How are teens supposed to launch in life without getting that first job? It’s such a mess rn.

I work for one of the big 4 and our hours have been cut right back, there is no overtime available hasn’t been for months, there was barely any at Christmas even. Our managers have been putting pressure on us to have unpaid time off because they are being pressured to save hours (money) from further up the chain. All of this despite the COL crisis you mention. I’m really sorry your kids are struggling to get jobs in this economy- my own teenager/young adult daughter has also struggled- but it’s hard for those of us with actual bills to pay.

Minimum wage is part of the problem here. No hairdresser is going to employ a Saturday girl for £10.85 to do a bit of sweeping up and making tea.

And yet the supermarkets are profitable and despite few staff now the costs of food are going up and up and up. Someone somewhere is making a lot of profit

Could your kids start a lawn mowing and garden trimming service?

This. I would gladly see a youth minimum wage come back . Perhaps only for jobs employing people up to 6 hours a week or similar
My teen is lovely but who wants to employ him in his first ever job when they could have someone experienced

(For now he has a volunteer job in a charity shop)

I love employing teens. If they have the right attitude I can train them from scratch which works perfectly for my business. I'd employ more if I could afford them but someone keeps putting the wages up along with all of my other bills and when I'm at the point where it's employ people and don't pay myself because there's only so much cost increase you can pass on to consumer when you sell non-essential goods. Supermarkets aren't the issue here. Of course they are profitable. A business isn't viable if it isn't profitable.

My child works at a garden centre cafe on Sundays and has just turned 18. Before they were 18, the pay was £8.00 an hour?

It’s still cheaper to hire teens than adults though

There are so many independent pubs, restaurants, bars popping up at the minute, I think the best way to get a job somewhere like that is just to go in and ask. A lot of big firms like supermarkets and chain pubs have a recruitment process that can be hard to get through for a young person. My DD is 18 and just went to the local round the corner and asked if they needed any glass collectors. Its a good way to get your CV started.

I have two older teens, one finished A levels a year ago could not get into any type of employment so is scraping by doing labouring, he’s getting 2-3 days a week if he’s lucky. Has tried to get an apprenticeship for site work but no one will take him because they don’t want to commit. Younger one doing GCSE’s can’t get a Saturday job. It’s completely baffling me how young people are suppose to progress but also quite scary.

What did he do his a levels in? He has a job though which is a start

More likely to see older people employed at my local supermarkets than young people.

I agree that it’s too expensive to take a chance on a young person.

He done business, English and history.
yeah it’s a start, took a long time and it’s not guaranteed work.
I genuinely didn’t expect it to be so hard for him, I thought he would have got a supermarket job or bar work or something just to fill his day He had a Saturday job from 15 but once he turned 18 they let him go. It’s been really depressing.

so the cost of the kid's needs falls on the parents who have huge bills themselves.

They’re the parent’s kids not the supermarket’s. Of course it falls on the parent.

Both of mine are doing voluntary work alongside college. The eldest has been applying for endless jobs but no one is setting on

I think there are more jobs for teens down South, but maybe that’s just my impression. Most of our students seem to find part time jobs and can earn some decent money. It’s getting a career which is more difficult.

YANBU in one respect in that it now very difficult for teens to get a first, part time job. Which is crap and I keep hoping someone will change something to improve this.
Yabu to not be expecting parents to pay for the things their teenagers need. That’s a parents job until they are out of full time education and hopefully working,

The supermarkets round here all seem to be hiring exclusively recent immigrants.

Every single person working in all our local Tesco's is now Indian, obviously quite recent to the country.

Im sure they’re charming but you do have to question the value of this, given there’s such a huge issue with youth unemployment.

Teenager’s are expensive.
It definitely an area where they have been left behind.

There was a thread recently about a poster saying her teen wont work and she was piled upon by people saying we are taking away their childhoods wanting to work so a very different thread of thought to this for sure.

All our locals seem to be saying no under 18’s full stop as they want staff that don’t need someone else to come verify purchases.

As you say no little Saturday jobs at hair dressers, not even paper routes these days.

Love all these people saying the problem is a minimum wage and not things like high utility bills - where companies are making massive profits and paying big bonuses.

The job market for young people is really concerning.