Posted on 05/04/2012 6:44:28 AM PDT by C19fan
Nick Gentry will be able to celebrate two major accomplishments this month: He’s graduating from high school and, after a very long job search, he has landed his first job. That Gentry, 18, will be collecting a paycheck makes him a rarity in today's working world. Only about 25 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds currently are working, a drop of 10 percentage points from just five years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(Excerpt) Read more at lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com ...
And if unemployment gets down to 8% or below, then the lapdogs in the MSM will brag that Obama’s Porkulus achieved its stated goal.
The stated goal of Porkulus was to keep unemployment from rising above 8%. Since it’s been higher, they have been silent about that. But if the rate dips below it, then it will be time to trumpet the success of Porkulus. There will be no mention that unemployment stayed above the target number for three years after Porkulus passed, only that now, just in time for the election, we will have allegedly seen results of Obama’s policies.
Yep. The more the wages go up, the more the cost of living goes up.
Everything else goes up with it, so why bother? (Someone has to pay for it.)
A teen with a good work ethic has become a rarity in the US.
This is avoidable. I feel sorry for these kids left behind as We experiment with socialism.
The country is transitioning to energy self sufficiency. There should be lots of jobs. Instead the government pushes solutions that are not economical, by being the venture capitalist. Solutions like solar panels and bullet trains.
As usual, the best solution is for governemnt to get out of the way. If they really wanted to help the teenagers.
I agree, as do most economists. Price floors above the natural clearing rate create surpluses (more workers available than will be purchased or hired).
“Yet, the 18-29s will still slobberingly support their messiah by more than 70%.”
Don’t count on it; many of these people are realizing that they can’t have what many 20 year-olds had in 1990 (jobs, cars, spending money, gas, etc.). I think Obama’s late-night minstrel shows are an indication that he’s been told he has lost his grip on this demographic (at least the white & Asian segments of it).
While nobody has a lower opinion of that demographic than me (I even despised myself when I was 20), there is just no incentive for anyone there to vote for him.
BINGO. A first Aid class is a half a day class that can make the difference between getting that job. When an employer see that a teen has first aid certification they move to the top of the list. This not only shows that they have some interest besides themselves, it decreases the liability of that employer to have first aid trained employees. Being an Eagle Scout moves you to the very top of the list. My son was hired on the spot for a lifeguard position when the waterslide company learned that he was an Eagle Scout. Same thing happened when he applied at Best Buy.
“There are plenty of jobs at minimum wage.”
Here in NJ there are some, but not nearly enough in comparison to the number of applicants. People here found that out the hard way when they stayed on unemployment as long as possible because they would have lost 50% of their income if they took the jobs that were available at the time. The unemployment payments have stopped, and now they’re looking at losing 75% of their income if they take a minimum-wage job.
So thankful for teen daughters who have multiple jobs right now, in a garden shop, babysitting, restaurant, mowing lawns, refinishing furniture.
They know how to work and they get the calls.
When did "8% or below" become something to brag about? (rhetorical question)
Historically, 8% is very high.
I have a couple of good examples with 2 of my kids.
Before I start I will say that all of my kids homeschooled at least through 8th grade.
Our oldest daughter, who is now married, went to a local University for 1 year and dropped out to go into the workforce. She is very talented with design, layout, marketing, etc... Anyway, after working at a fairly low end job doing design and layout, she received a job offer from a larger business. This business wanted a Bachelors degree which my daughter did not have but they saw her portfolio and loved it and hired her. She has received a couple of promotions since then and they absolutely love her work ethic and the quality of her work and will have her supervising other very soon. I think she will end up going back to school on her companies dime!
I have another daughter who graduated with a bachelors degree a couple years ago and is working for $12.xx per hour at a job she really isn’t “trained” for and doesn’t care for it much but it’s a job.
My son who is still in college is a bit of a different story. He got his AA while still in High School then signed a letter of intent to go to the University of Washington on a baseball scholarship but decided a couple of months before going that the UW baseball program was not where he wanted to be, he pulled out and is now on NCAA “probation” and playing at a local community college while serving his NCAA “probation” year. Where I’m going with this is that he was able to do some more Business School prerequisites at the CC. He has signed a new letter of intent with the University of Hawaii and will start at their Business School this Fall.
Now the job part of the story. For him, it boils down to “who you know” not “what you know”. We have a friend who we have known for 10 or so years through the local baseball community. Our boys have been teammates and competitors through the years. This guy is a part owner of a car dealership and when he ran into my son at a baseball game, he told my son to come into the dealership and he would talk with him about working at the dealership this summer. My son followed up and our friend offered him a job this summer as a “Business Intern” at $12 per hour. My son was on cloud 9. I think our friend realizes how hard our son works and how beneficial it would be to help out a kid he has watched grow up.
Oh, by the way, our daughter will probably be pretty pissed off when she hears he will be making almost as much as she does....lol
That brings my to my youngest. He is 17 years old and he is a typical “youngest” and all I can say is....please pray for us!!! lol
My 12 year old grand son applied, through his school, for a job of detasseling corn this summer and is hoping, hoping, hoping that he will be accepted. 12 years old is the minimum for that work here in Illinois.
The pay is $8 per hour and the work is hot, dirty and hard. All he's thinking right now is $8 per hour but he is a little worker and I believe he can handle it.
I had a little conversation with him about how he really won't be keeping all that $8 for every hour he works, state, federal and S.S. is withheld. He thought that was preposterous.
My son is an Eagle Scout, too. He really wanted to be a lifeguard this summer, but he hopes to get a job at Guitar Center when school starts again. He’s going to community college, so he could replace an employee who goes somewhere out of the city.
I am thankful my son has a job lined up this summer already, just waiting for school to end. His nephew managed to find one as well. They are few and far between in this area.
Lots of hopium, but little jobs.
Did you know that it is ILLEGAL to hire (or work) any kid younger than 17. It’s a federal law!
The only exception is a family business utilizing immediate family children...and the feds are already addressing that issue with the family farm labor act we have recently learned about.
Back in my day only well-to-do children were not expected to work until they graduated from college and went to their first “attempt” to work at the age 22 or better.
What a shame and the impact is clearly shown on the current pool of prospective “work ethic challenged” people out there.
I start working in a grocery store sacking groceries at 9 years old. Never stopped working since then. I have owned my own business since 1979 and credit the ability to do so by working as a child.
Best wishes to both young men!
Excellent point. One of many factors on this.
-Insurance company policies and new restrictions pushed by MADD have made it harder and harder for teens to drive. And if they can’t drive to their part-time job, they don’t get one.
-Many teens would rather play video games and hang out on Facebook than get off their arse and go out to look for a job. Or do much of anything else for that matter.
-Upper income families tend to not want their kids to work. They make them spend all of their spare time studying, being tutored, and participating in extracurricular activities so that they can be accepted by the “right” college.
-With unemployment high, and the minimum wage pushing ten bucks an hour in some locations, most businesses would prefer to hire adults over teens with zero job experience.
-And yes, overprotective helicopter parents. “What if my little Johnny gets robbed on the bus to work? Or cuts his hand at work? Or has a customer yell at him? Or is forced to go and clean a restroom?” etc. etc. etc.
Under the FLSA, a youth 18 years or older may perform any job for unlimited hours.
An employee who is 16 or 17 years old also may work for unlimited hours but only at nonhazardous jobs (see descriptions below).
But if you hire a 14 or 15 year old, get ready to carefully monitor the youth’s job duties and hours.
At this age, employees are not allowed to work in the manufacturing or mining industries. For other employment sectors, they are restricted to nonhazardous jobs. And their hours also are more limited than those of their slightly older coworkers
http://www.nfib.com/business-resources/business-resources-item?cmsid=34050
All three of mine worked at 15 and 16. They wanted “stuff” they worked
People I know who are seeking relatively low-level clerical jobs are noticing that now many of the ads are requiring a Bachelors Degree.
Because they can.
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