Two words.
Illegal Aliens.
I think the situation is more complex than what the article presents. Speaking anecdotally, teens don’t seem to be as interested in summer jobs as my generation was. A lot of teenagers, especially males, seem content to spend the summer sitting at game consoles.
Forgive the boast, but all three Big Truck daughters (16, 14,
and 12) are gainfully employed throughout the summer and
beyond. No strings pulled or favors asked - they applied and
interviewed for every job they have. $8/hr 15-20 hours a week
all summer. Hours will be adjusted when homeschooling starts
in August, but they will still be available to work some school days and Saturdays. I am one pleased dad.
Having employed many teen workers in earlier times, I have determined that the present crop does not have the tools nor the proper attitude to justify my time and money.
Minimum wage, government rules against youth employment, government welfare paying people not to work do not help.
Many young people today have grown up in an environment where no one works for a living. They have no adults who are employed to set an example for them.
The culture they learn from teaches them how to live off the government, how to play the race card and/or the victim card.
The summer I was 15 I mowed separate lawns, caddied at the local golf course and when a local garage business wanted to build a small brick storage building next to the garage, I helped dig out the foundation with a shovel. There was a small family run “drive in” near the garage and I carried out the garbage, moved heavy boxes, etc, for the occasional “free” lunch meal.
I was physically fit, had cash in my pocket and a few bucks in the bank
But that was in the days when kids actually went outside the house in the summer...
My son who is 18 has Aspergers an upper level autism, he has been in a foster care home for the last 3 years, this summer after his school season was over I started bringing him to work with me.
My job is operations supervisor of a small family owned concrete batch plant, my duties are quite diverse from actually driving the concrete mixer to any and all phases of fleet maintenance.
So Joe basically cleans up shop and assists me with special projects that never end, such as the owners who pay me to rebuild the roofs and interiors of their motorhomes, converting an older tractor to a 10 yard dump and even building a high wheelbase swamp style hunting buggy.
All of Joes friends have no work, there just isn’t anything for them. I keep track of his part time hours and I keep that money for him as he has poor money management. To my employer he is basically a volunteer, but every day earns him experience, a skill and he is building an inner confidence to keep a work routine schedule.
Like repairing this Class C motorhome, it had extensive wood rot in the front roof and the left overhang and shelf bed over the cab, we had to actually peel the roof back and strip everything out, all the styrofoam and sheating right down to the skeleton frame, it was all full of mold.
He was initially intimidated by the size of the project but I asked hime this, “How do you eat an elephant?”
I told him, “One piece at a time”
So this may not work with most young men but if possible bring your teenager to work or get them to volunteer somewhere. My employer is tickled pink for having his RV rebuilt at a fraction of the cost of being sent to an actual RV shop, my skills are just as good as they are even with me learning some new things in sandwich panel construction, the types of woods, the adhesives and such.
But at every opportunity I share a tidbit of my knowledge with JOe, like how to read a calipe, how to select a faster from grade 8 to SAE, how to rivet aluminum and how to measure, measure again, cut fit, maybe cut again, final fit of assembly. And most important how to use hand tools and some power tools.
Two weeks ago he actually change a steering tire on a Kenworth with a very large tire gun. Sure beats him sitting at home all day playing Xbox.
Other than what would be considered illegal child labor today, how many teens had jobs during the last depression?
...In other news, legislators are pushing for raising the Minimum Wage to $10/hour.
“A thing is worth only what another will pay for it.”