Teen Employment Rising

AJC 7/14/18 page A2 article, Summer jobs for teens making a slight comeback reports that 50% of teens had summer jobs in 2000. That dropped to 30% after the 2008 Meltdown, but has increased to 35% in 2018.

This is a good sign and I hope to see teen employment return to 50% soon.  It gives them work experience and builds their self-reliance when they earn their own money. They need to work to mature into responsible adults earlier than they have been.

All of my 6 kids worked part-time and summer jobs in Atlanta Metro from 1983 to 1996. We saw a decline in teen employment in the 1980s when most teens just hung out a Malls. In the 1970s, teen employment was common and you saw them in grocery stores, retail shops and fast food places.

From the 1980s to 2017 we’ve seen adults take over these jobs.  Immigrants flooded in and US teens lost their starter jobs. The young adults who have been working in fast food need higher paying jobs in manufacturing and warehousing and other industries that pay more.

Businesses that rely on minimum wage employees will need to re-establish their part-time student jobs as under-employed adults leave them for jobs that offer more pay, like manufacturing and warehouse jobs.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader