More teens obtained part-time employment in 2024 than in any previous year since 2008. Most believe the increased teen employment last year was due in part to an increasing demand for labor, as well as high inflation and the need to help out the family with rising costs. Experts believe the reasons the teen employment rate was previously so low was because adolescents today have so many competing interests. Academics, sports, and other extracurricular activities have become more abundant and demanding.
Parents often aren’t sure whether teens should obtain part-time employment or not with so many competing options. Parents might worry that, if their teen chooses to work, they might not have enough time for homework or miss out on important chances to socialize or lose their slot on the sports team to a student who practices more often. On the other hand, a job can help teenagers develop increased autonomy, obtain valuable work experience, and become more prepared for the real world. In today’s blog, we will explore the pros and cons of teens working. In this article, we will explore the pros and cons of teens having a part-time job.
What Types of Part-Time Jobs are Available for Teens?
Due to labor laws, younger adolescents under the age of 15 are not usually eligible to be hired by businesses. They are more likely to hold informal jobs, such as babysitting, yard work, dog walking, or other odd jobs. Older teens can obtain employment through local businesses, such as amusement parks, restaurants, community pools, local libraries, summer camps, and grocery or retail stores.
What Challenges do Teens Face in Obtaining Work?
There are many obstacles to teens obtaining employment:
- Finding reliable transportation is critical, and that can be difficult if the job is not close by and the teen’s parent(s) work.
- Combatting stereotypes that many employers have about adolescents, such as poor attitudes or unreliability.
- Teens’ lack of relevant skills can concern some employers.
- Bad first impressions for teens who lack experience or knowledge in interviewing.
Should Teens Work Part-Time?
Researchers have studied and debated the benefits and drawbacks of part-time jobs for adolescents for more than three decades. Many researchers, including those on government panels like the National Commission on Youth, praise part-time work and say it contributes to the transition from youth to adulthood. Other studies have found significant negative consequences to students working over 20 hours a week. We will take a close look at both.
Benefits of Teens Holding a Part-Time Job
There are many benefits to adolescents obtaining employment. Teens can:
- Obtain valuable work experiences, which are excellent for a resume and valued by potential employers.
- Gain useful, marketable skills such as improving their communication, learning how to handle people, collaborating with a team, developing interview skills and filling out job applications.
- Learn how to effectively manage finances. Even if the teen is simply using their earnings to pay for their own expenses, they will learn to budget between clothes, movies, and car expenses.
- Learn time management skills.
- Obtain networking possibilities.
- Explore possible career paths.
- Use free time in a positive way. Employment gives teens less time to engage in risky behaviors or mindlessly scroll through their social media.
- Save for college or for living on their own after graduation.
- Form good work habits. Teens learn how important it is to show up on time, listen to their boss, and do a good job. The social-emotional skills developed on the job also reduce anxiety and conflict by training youths to deal with stressful situations.
- Develop new confidence, sense of responsibility and independence.
Disadvantages of Teens Holding a Part-Time Job
There are also negative consequences of teen employment, such as:
- Less time for homework. Working students may not have enough time to complete their school assignments.
- Higher rates of absenteeism and less school involvement. Employment may place constraints on the student’s study and sleep time. Fatigue or lack of preparation for the day’s academic activities may discourage a working teen from going to school. Additionally, a job often takes the place of extracurricular activities, which reduces a teen’s connection to and involvement in their school.
- Lower grades in school. Studies show that students who work more than 20 hours a week during the school year have grade point averages that are lower than students who work 10 or less hours a week or only work during summer break.
- More likely to use drugs and alcohol. Research suggests that substance abuse is higher for students who work 20 or more hours per week during the school year.
- Development of negative views of work itself. Early entry into a negative or harsh work environment may encourage negative views of work. This would depend greatly on the maturity level of the teenager and the type of job obtained.
- Increased stress. Balancing work and school can prove to be too much for any student.
- Reduced social life and extracurricular activities. Maintaining employment means that teens have less hours available in their week to engage with peers or focus on hobbies, sports or other extracurricular activities.
In general, research seems to suggest that students that work 10 hours or less a week, or that only work during the summer, gain the benefits of employment, while students that work over 20 hours a week during the school year suffer the negative consequences of work mentioned above. Other factors that affect how students handle employment and school life include the intensity and difficulty of the work done.
Summer Employment is Beneficial
Summer employment is an excellent alternative, as it does not interfere with schooling and provides teens with a constructive use of their free time during the break. It allows adolescents to garner all the benefits of employment without overtaxing their busy school schedules. Teens should begin looking for summer employment during their Spring Break as the hiring process takes a few weeks.
How Parents Can Support Working Teens
Before your teen applies for employment, be sure to discuss the pros and cons with him or her, as well as the responsibilities associated with a job. If you both agree that employment is a good idea, there are several things that you, as a parent, can do for your teen to help ease the stress associated with juggling school, work, and family life:
- Help your teen prepare a budget that sets limits on spending and encourages them to place a percentage of their earnings into savings. Come to a consensus about how you expect your teen to use his or her income. Will they be helping out with family finances? Would you like them to begin saving for college? Reaching a consensus will help to avoid later conflicts about money.
- Create a daily or weekly schedule with your teen that highlights the time that they spend working and the time they spend on school, friends, family, and extracurriculars. Teach your teen effective ways to manage their competing time demands.
- Set up family time periodically. This could be once a week or month and is a time where you and your teen can reconnect through conversations, game playing, or family outings.
- Teach your teen practical ways to manage adverse situations on their jobs. Discuss positive conflict resolution, as well as positive coping skills for stress. Also teach your teen proper employee etiquette before they start their job, such as:
- Proper hygiene. Explain that your teen’s employer will likely care a lot about how they are presenting themselves at work. Your teen should practice good grooming, and their clothing should follow the dress code and always be clean.
- Control the smartphone. Encourage your teen to mute their phone during work and make sure they know it isn’t appropriate to send text messages, get on social media, or be distracted by the phone while on the job.
- Complete tasks. Make sure that teens understand that work assignments are not just suggestions. Employers fire employees that do not complete their tasks before they leave for the day.
- Be reliable. Encourage your teen to arrive at work on time, call if they are running late, deliver quality work consistently, and fulfill commitments.
- Be professional with customers. Your teen needs to understand that happy customers are extremely important to their employer, and if they can work hard to stay polite, calm, and helpful with every customer, regardless of how unreasonable their viewpoint seems, their efforts will likely be rewarded with raises or promotions.
- Respect coworkers. Explain that employers want good team members. Teens should avoid gossiping about coworkers, be willing to help their coworkers solve problems, and avoid interrupting or criticizing a colleague in front of a group.
- Maintain a good attitude. Having a positive disposition makes you a pleasant person to be around.
Final Thoughts…
Part-time employment offers teens a lot of valuable and marketable experience for their resume and provides a constructive use of your teen’s time. The most ideal choice for teen employment is a summer job so that your child can obtain the important benefits of working without taking time away from their schoolwork and extracurricular activities. If your teen can’t find a job or doesn’t have enough flexibility in their schedule to work at a company, they can still develop many of these same skills in volunteer roles or in trying to operate their own business, such as babysitting or mowing lawns.