Are there still Saturday jobs about, for teenagers?

[Tequilamockinbird]

DD will be 14 next month, due to her having such expensive taste in clothes, make-up etc, I have suggested to her that getting a part time job may be the answer (instead of hounding me and then sulking when she can't afford things!)

I always had Saturday jobs, from about 13 - started off with a paper round and then worked in a shoe shop, the cinema, a sandwich shop etc. However, I'm not sure shops still take on younger teens, does anybody know? Other than paper rounds that is.

It's hard to get work in shops under 16 these days unless you have contacts - I think washing up in restaurants might be easier to get.

Has she tried for a paper round?

(by contacts I mean someone local with their own shop!)

She has her name down at a couple of local shops for paper rounds, yes. But they have waiting lists a mile long .

I do pay her for doing jobs around the house but sadly I can't afford all that much. I want her to be more independent, like I was - it certainly taught me about life, and finances from quite a young age!

My 17 has been trying and applying for ages - no luck and he'll do almost anything (legal). Regarding washing dishes in pubs, all the jobs advertised around here state you must be over 18! Would your daughter consider a saturday job in a hairdressers? That might be the best place to start.

I think It'll be nigh on impossible for a 14yr old to get a job. Can you afford to "employ" her at minimum wage doing jobs about the house above and beyond what is expected as "part of the family"?

For instance I pay my DS what it'd cost to put the car through the car wash for washing it, £5/hour for garden labouring etc

It's possible, but some retail stores won't take under18's (such as Game).
No harm in trying though.

\link{http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/ParentsRights/DG_4002945\this directgov page} has all the inf about working from 13 onwards. You need the permit even for a paper round (but getting one isn't a big deal). The page specifies the hours a child may legally work, & what the pay levels are. It is possible for a 13-yr-old to get a job (but as I said before, you need contacts really)

My older kids (both past 25) did milk rounds but those have practically dried up now

DS1's birthday is mid-July, & he wasn't able to even apply to Sainsburys until he had turned 16, by which time all the older kids in his year had already got their applications in - he did get a job before Christmas though IIRC.

She needs to tout herself round all the possible places locally - hairdressers, other small local shops, restaurants, local free sheets (DS2 did a fortnightly one when he was 16/17 which paid £7 a time, or £15 if there was a flyer included - not much but it all helps!)

Round here there is work for teens in pub kitchen, cafe kitchen , baby sitting not much more.