I’ve never put much stock in these statistics involving “un-employed teens” or, “children living in poverty”.
In many respects, these stories are usually used to smear a Republican administration. For the most part though, a teens major area of responsibility is SCHOOL. A summer job is fine, when it doesn’t burden the parents. Further, a ‘Child living in poverty’ probably doesn’t even know it...
They seem to have their cell phones and electronic toys regardless of their station in life. I grew up in what I now know was a poor family, but I was seldom aware of it. I had a bike, a couple of fishing outfits (fresh & salt), my trusty .22, and was well fed and adequately clothed. We had a black & white TV and a couple of radios
If I wanted money for the movies, Asbury Park's amusements or some new fish hooks, I had to pick up a little work here or there. Cut some grass, shovel some snow, muck out a chicken coop, dig a footing course for an elderly neighbor, do some cleanup on a nearby construction project, etc. My first full time job came when I was 17 and enlisted in the Navy just after high school, so technically I was an unemployed teen until then.
I'm just guessing, but it is likely that some of the kids in question who are 'unemployed" actually do earn some money, but probably as a lookout for the local pusher.