I think part of the media flurry on teen hiring is missing the point. Sure, getting paid is nice, but the fact is 99% of teens are taken care of; what they earn is pocket money. The true value of the summer job is experience so they can leverage something later when pursuing a real job, including networking.

My kid already knew getting a summer job wasn't going to happen back in May. Instead, she went whole hog into e-commerce with thrift store goods and volunteering at animal centers. She gets experience in sales and animal care for three or four months before going off to college. All good stuff in sales/logistics/science. The mindset of teens and work needs to be experience-oriented versus waiting for handouts. Unfortunately, the media shoots blindly and off target, predictably.

econ

I think part of the media flurry on teen hiring is missing the point. Sure, getting paid is nice, but the fact is 99% of teens are taken care of; what they earn is pocket money. The true value of the summer job is experience so they can leverage something later when pursuing a real job, including networking.

My kid already knew getting a summer job wasn't going to happen back in May. Instead, she went whole hog into e-commerce with thrift store goods and volunteering at animal centers. She gets experience in sales and animal care for three or four months before going off to college. All good stuff in sales/logistics/science. The mindset of teens and work needs to be experience-oriented versus waiting for handouts. Unfortunately, the media shoots blindly and off target, predictably.