Does your teenager have a Saturday job?

[Anon778833]

My dd is 18 and she’ll be going to university this year. When I was a teenager, my parents expected me to have a a Saturday job to pay for things that I wanted and I had once consistently from age 16 to when I graduated university. My dd, although very academic and predicted very good A level results, is not at all keen to get any kind of job, ever. I love her dearly but she is lazy. She doesn’t lift a finger around the house either to help me and I’m concerned that she might not cope very well in the real world.

This is probably my fault. But I’m wondering whether cultural norms have changed so that teenagers don’t have part time jobs anyway?

I would expect my children to have some sort of job when they reach age 16.

To be 18 and not be working at all sounds quite unusual to me. How does your daughter pay for things? I'm assuming you fund her. I don't think it's good to enable a now adult to be intentionally lazy. If you stop paying for things for her she may develop a different attitude towards earning some money for herself.

All of mine had Saturday jobs. Shop work, delivery driving, temp office jobs. They all had cars and couldn’t have managed them without a job. Do you supply everything she needs/wants? Maybe she needs an incentive to work. If she gets it all without any effort why would she choose to work ?

My teenager has ‘sort of’ a job - basically he gets commissioned to do some work every now and then, and 2 contracts a month gives him about £800.

If she’s 18 where’s she getting her money for clothes, going out with friends, phone, etc from?

My dd has a part time job that she got aged 16. She generally does two shifts a week and more in the holidays.

I worked 1 evening a week and all day Saturday from 15-18.

Then worked 20 hours a week in the campus shop at uni.

Most of her friends work part time too.

Yes, expected from sixteen and most of their friends worked. How else does she get money to go out?

Yes it’s 100% your fault that your teen is lazy if you don’t expect them to help around the house or get a job.

All my DS’ friends have Saturday jobs. He’s 17 and has been working since 16 over the school holidays at a local tourist attraction. It’s closed over winter so he knuckles down to study from October to March and then works at least one day a week and most holidays in between. He also puts in and folds away laundry, empties dishwasher, cleans his room and changes his bed, feeds cats and anything else he’s asked to do. He will make someone an awesome husband and his wife will never be on here moaning about what a lazy twat she married - my work here is done!

Ds is 15 and just started his first job, older ds also started at 15. Only pot washing.

My kids (18yo and 16yo) have 2 x part time jobs each. They've been working for years. The 18yo does fast food and a couple of bar shifts.

I left it up to the 2 DC I have that are 16+
The first got a PT job that lasted until they went to Uni. No job during term time as a very demanding course, but career oriented job now for the summer.
The second does freelance work to fund the things they want, no shortage of work for them but they control their schedule.

Right. I’ve definitely gone wrong somewhere then. I do ask her to help me around the house but she sulks and I hate arguments so I’ve probably let her get away with that.

When she turned 16, I encouraged her to get a Saturday job, especially since we live 30 seconds walk from a supermarket but she wouldn’t do it.

I pay for her phone and her dad (who I’m separated from) gives her quite substantial pocket money. She also has trust fund money.

Apart from this, she’s very loving towards her younger sisters. I should have been firmer I guess. I think that when she goes to uni and doesn’t take out the bins, ever she’s going to irritate her peers 😬

Those who do freelance and commissioned work, what kind of things do they do? My 16 year old has ASD so a lot of the traditional Saturday jobs aren’t great for him - things like hospitality or retail but he’d happily work from his bedroom.

My son did from 16 (three days a week) but he was in vocational college that only met two and a half days. He worked four days a week in the summer and Christmas break.
I would not expect someone about to sit their A levels to have a Saturday job. But I would expect her to get one over the summer (and last summer when she was 17). My own daughter just turned 17 (lower sixth) but volunteers one Saturday a month, and spends her other Saturdays doing school work. This summer she is taking two week long courses in her subject she hopes to do at uni. She will still try and get a job but it depends if they'll let her work around this.

Moat teenagers where I am have jobs from 14+, it would be unheard of not to have one at 17/18.

What do her friends do?

I don't think Saturday or weekend jobs exist like they used to. They often ask for a lot more commitment and more hours.
Does she drive or do you have good transport links!? Otherwise you may be committed to taxiing her if she does find a job.

She doesn’t drive yet but I’d be happy to drive her to work if needed. The thing is, if she really struggled with life I would understand her not wanting to get a job but she’s very able and some of her university offers were unconditional.

So amongst DS and his friends there is a professional graffiti artist, a session musician, a dancer that does some theatre, pantomime, etc, and a wedding band.

None of them have a set hours/set location job but they’re making decent money while doing A Levels and uni.

DS also signed up to a casting agency and was recently an extra in a music video and got paid £75 for a fairly short day with a free lunch.

DS2 is 19 and has never had a job in the usual meaning of the word. He's earned money doing some ad hoc virtual PA work for a friend of his and he also buys designer clothes cheaply and sells them online at a profit to earn money. I've told him he has to get a real job this summer - waiter or barista or similar. He needs to know what it's like to need to be up in the morning for a shift and to get on with colleagues you may have nothing in common with.

Mine is 16, she doesn't have a job but due to school it's not possible unfortunately. She would love to have one, she's quite self sufficient and earning her own money would please her greatly.

When I was that age I did not have a Saturday job but did a lot of babysitting. I was very lucky to get a very well paying summer job though.

Both of mine have worked a couple of evenings a week at McDonald's since they turned 16.

Ds now in second year at uni and still come back in holidays and works a couple of full time weeks to top up student loan and bursary

Dd just doing a levels and then moving to a one year , paid finance internship. Her work experience at McDonalds was talked about a lot at interview as they hadn't had many applicants with any work experience

I don't have teenagers yet but I will expect mine to work, they're already looking forward to being my Saturday girls. In my business I employ 3 16yos as Saturday staff, they are offered more hours in the holidays if they want them

I think it's a really important part of growing up, I babysat from 13, worked in the Co-op from 16, and worked every holiday from uni. Because I was earning my own money and making an effort I still got subsidised by my parents, it wasn't about the money, it was about the responsibility!

Both teen DC’s got jobs at 16 - one in a local shop and one in a bar/restaurant. They actually both now work in bar/restaurants and earn well enough plus tips.
They work roughly 15-20hrs a week in term time and upto full time hours in the summer holidays.

We frequently pick them up at all hours and spend a fortune on fuel but they have both grown in confidence and learned great people skills.

Mine did from 16, worked extra in the holidays and continued at University.