Research & Results

On this page, we will review a variety of information that should be considered while looking for a job. The information that is provided is going to be referenced from peer reviewed articles, and will be available to view if further information is needed.

So, why do most teens work?

There are a few different reasons as to why teens and adolescents may work. Perhaps the most common reason is the fact that since most teenagers are going to be living at home, they are looking to have additional income to spend in various ways. A very common expense that teenagers work towards is going to be some form of transportation i.e. a car. Having a reliable means of transportation allows for teenagers to develop a sense of independence, and can open up more job opportunities as distance become less of an issue when deciding where to work. 

Students/teens may also be looking for new opportunities. Depending on the area in which they may be trying to work, students may be looking to network with individuals that could lead them down the career path of their choosing. Networking nowadays is one of the best ways to get an "in" with a business, and can lead to promising career options in the future. (Hirschman & Voloshin, 2007)

Is it a good idea to work?

Before you start looking for a job, you need to ask yourself the all important question "Do I really want a job right now?". The answer may be easy for you, but difficult for others. Taking time outside of school to work has many benefits, but also comes with potential negatives that we are going to discuss. 

Potential Benefits

• The ability to develop and gain work related skills at an early age
• Additional income
• Time management skills
• The opportunity to take on responsibility
• The chance to develop people skills (customer service)
• Work settings tend to have more of a sense of adulthood 
• Teens tend to have a high rate of job satisfaction within the market
• Learning to handle and manage money (Mortimer, 2010)

Check out this TED Talk video from Liz Buehl on why she believes teens should be working!

Potential Drawbacks

• Teens that work more hours after school have less time to study or do homework, which could lead to poor grades
• It has been reported that teens that work more, tend to  drink and smoke more
• An increase in hours worked has been reported to lead to behavioral problems
• Higher possibility of absences at school
• Higher potential for students to dropout if overworked (Mortimer, 2010)

Please be aware, while some of these drawbacks may seem severe, these are worst case scenario situations. It is important for parents to sit down with their children and talk about the benefits and risks that accompany working at a younger age. If signs start to occur that show a lack of performance in school, then maybe a reduction in hours is in order. Or perhaps quitting the job all together may be the best option. 

Data and commonalities

So, what are some of the most common jobs that are occupied by teenage workers? While we have explored various businesses on this website that will hire teenagers, there is a pattern of which businesses seem to hire the most teenagers throughout the world. 

• In 2005, of the 141 million people that were employed in the United States, approximately 6 million were teenagers. This equates to about 4% of the total workforce at that time
• Over three quarters of the teenage workforce tends to be hired in to two main categories for work. The first of which is food preparation. The second is sales and office related work.
• Approximate one-fifth of ALL food preparation workers are teenagers
• Teenagers represent a little less than 10% of positions that relate to sales work (Hirschman & Voloshin, 2007)

Now, there may be some that look at this data and think to themselves "Wait, what if I don't want to work in these fields?", the good news is, you don't have to! While these positions are common for teenagers, they are not the only places that will hire you. There just happens to be a trend in the quick service food industry that relies on teenage employees. Without them, many businesses that provide these kinds of services would struggle or have to raise prices, as most teenagers tend to work for lower wages. 

Preparing students for the working world

A very common question that people ask nowadays is "How is school preparing students for the working world?".  Schools today have a variety of options available to students to help prepare for what awaits when they graduate. If a student so chooses, they may also choose to pursue education through a vocational school. Vocational schools help students acquire work related skills at an early age. They train students in a variety of fields and help to educate them in a field of their choosing, sometimes even offering apprenticeships or job shadowing depending on the field. While this may sound great, vocational schools for quite some time had gotten a bad reputation due to situations that arose during the great depression.

An article posted by CQ Researcher found that in 1934, the United States Office of Education found that 150,000 students had been trained in bookkeeping. When those students graduated, only 34,000 of those students were able to find work pertaining to the training that had been received. This led  to the conclusion that vocational schools were simply providing a surplus of labor into a market that does not need it. As you can imagine, this led to many seeing vocational school as a route that not many students, if any, wanted to go down. Fortunately, vocational education has changed since then, and modern vocational schools train students in fields that have a higher labor demand. (Teens work to balance school and jobs, 1990)

A common course that is provided in most schools today called Family and Consumer Science (FACS) or Home Economics as it was once called, helps with career preparation, as well as job searching skills. Another such class that is implemented in middle school called Business Information and Technology also touches on these points, as well as:

• Resume building
• Interview prep
• Determining proper appearance and self care
• Finding a job
• Time management
• And so on!

High schools also offer a wide array of classes to students so that they may develop interests and begin to determine what career field that they may want to enter. In fact, many schools now require that students pass accounting and personal finance as a part of the curriculum. Too add to this, I have provided a list below to showcase just how many courses are available as a part of high school curriculum nowadays.

Local High School CTE courses

• Entrepreneurship
• Marketing
• Nursing
• Coding
• Higher Level Accounting
• Sports Marketing
• Fashion Marketing
• Small Engine Repair
• Welding
• Multimedia and Web Design
• Economics
• Culinary Arts
• Life Planning 
• Military Science
• Manufacturing
• Communications
• Technical Drawing
• Automotive Technology 
• Carpentry
• Programming
• Criminal Justice
• And more!

Take some time to explore what you local high school has to offer, and start thinking about what career path seems right for you!