Summer jobs become scarce for teens

With unemployment at the high it is currently at, hovering over 9%, it seems like all those teens who have just finished the school year are having a pretty difficult time finding work.

Because there are so many adults currently looking for work, many are taking whatever they can find, including those jobs usually reserved for out of school teens.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics had a recent survey that tracked a decline in the number of teenagers that are participating in the job market this year versus last year; its down 3%.

So with the lack of work, what are teens doing? Well, it appears as though they’re forgoing the paying jobs to volunteer and do other non-paying jobs throughout the summer, if for nothing else, just to get out of the house for a few hours a day.

Some teens are even becoming entrepreneurs in their own right. Some have taken advantage of the season and started forming their own businesses for the summer, like lawn maintenance or pool cleaning. The best part of these teens starting these jobs on their own is that they can employ their friends and typically make more than minimum wage when there is work.

Right now the jobless rate for 16 to 19 year old range is 21.5%, that’s up from 15.4% in 2008. When you look at those numbers, you have to remember that only includes the teens that are actually actively seeking employment, not those who aren’t.

I know that it is still hard to find work. Living in a college town, there are always college students looking for work, add on top of that out of school teenagers, then the fact that none of the businesses do the same amount of business over the summer as they do during a semester and it’s basically a recipe for high unemployment. There are some restaurants looking for work, but it’s all only part time work and the hours are skimpy at best.

Then, there are just so many adults that have families to feed that are looking for work at the same places. If I were a manager at one of the places where teens usually go to find work, then I would be much more inclined to hire the man or woman who needs to feed their family before I hired a 16 year old who just needs to put some minutes on their pay-as-you-go phone.

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