Posted on 05/30/2012 7:38:24 AM PDT by Kaslin
High school and college kids typically get the jobs that are left over, that no one else really wants, such as working at McDonalds.
However, competition for any job is now so intense, that teens cannot find any job that no one else wants.
As a result of that increased competition, Number of high-school students with jobs hits 20-year low
The American job market is no place for students as the number of employed high schoolers has hit its lowest level in more than 20 years, according to new figures from the National Center for Education Statistics.
In 1990, 32 percent of high school students held jobs, versus just 16 percent now. Blame their elders.
“By definition, teenage workers get the jobs that are left over,” said Charles Hirschman, a sociology professor at the University of Washington who has studied and written about student employment. “When you can’t find someone else to bag your groceries or work construction, often teenagers are the labor force you can count on to pick up that slack for a low wage. But now, with the recession, everybody has moved down. Those jobs aren’t going to teenagers.”
Local McDonald’s managers, for example, are no longer forced to accept young workers who can show up after class. They now have the option to hire older employees with more experience and, in many cases, much more education.
“They think, ‘I can hire this old guy instead. He already knows how to work, so we don’t need to teach him,’ ” said Andrew Sum, director of Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies.
The crunch is also hitting college students. In 2000, 52 percent of full-time college students worked. That number has now fallen to 40 percent, the National Center for Education Statistics reports.Job Demographics
Please consider these thoughts I penned on May 1, 2008 (emphasis in italics added) Demographics of Jobless Claims
Structural Demographics Poor
Structural demographic effects imply that prospects in the full-time labor market will be poor for those over age 50-55 and workers under age 30. Teen and college-age employment could suffer a great deal from (1) a dramatic slowdown in discretionary spending and (2) part-time Boomer reentrants into the low-paying service sector; workers who will be competing with younger workers.
Ironically, older part-time workers remaining in or reentering the labor force will be cheaper to hire in many cases than younger workers. The reason is Boomers 65 and older will be covered by Medicare (as long as it lasts) and will not require as many benefits as will younger workers, especially those with families.
In effect, Boomers will be competing with their children and grandchildren for jobs that in many cases do not pay living wages.
Very few are considering demographics, a change in attitudes by consumers towards spending, a change in attitudes of banks to lend, and the ability of capital impaired banks to lend even if they want to.
A structural shift in consumption to savings or at least reduced consumption, is in store for boomers. Meanwhile job prospects are looking pretty grim for some time to come across the entire economic spectrum.And so it is. Unfortunately it will stay that way for many years to come. Economists missed the boat on this one and still do even as it plays out as I suggested.
Because of student debt and low paying jobs, kids out of college are putting off raising families and buying homes. Headwinds on home prices are enormous.
Rather than buy cars they cannot afford, many kids tweet and send text messages.
Demographics, student debt, debt in general, and changing attitudes of youth about what is really important are huge deflationary forces that Bernanke is fighting.
Those expecting hyperinflation or even strong inflation out of this mess are simply not thinking clearly.
As the economy has worsened, some people are tightening their belts somewhat and may get to a point where their children will actually learn the value of money by having to work for it. Good life lesson.
A member of my extended family has been searching diligently since the second week of January, and just the other day landed a part-time gig in a retail store.
In normal times you could have found such a job within a couple of days.
My kid walked through a strip mall late last week. Walked into a sandwich shop and asked for a job.
She starts today. 30 hours a week, minimum wage. She is 19, lives at home and goes to school.
That’s how it’s done.
Good for her. Although for corporations, an online application is the only portal to employment for that kind of job.
Read on FR just yesterday thet farmers can’t get their crops in because the illegals have self deported due to the economy.
There you go, kids!
Still craploads of illegals who can’t speak English at fast food restaurants here in Texas. (DFW)
I did not see a single mention about the fact that in many regions of the country, the availability of entry level jobs has been eviscerated by the unending supply if illegal alien labor.
Today they call that a "child labor violation".
Hopefully the trend will eventually reach the great state of Texas. And everywhere else.
Yes, this article is deeply, deeply flawed in the assumption that high school students WANT jobs.
Particularly in the upper middle class far fewere students are working during school than in the 1980s.
I know in the 1990s Eastern Europeans were brought in by the thousands for the summer jobs at the Jersey Shore resort towns, because high school kids no longer had any interest in working at them.
Be careful of the causality arrow. As mentioned the article implies there are these vast hordes of high school and college students frantically searching around for fast food or entry level jobs. In reality, as mentioned, many are not taking them because they are devoting so much time to extracurriculars and sports (which look better on a college application than working at McDonald's) or just simply consider such jobs demeaning in a way that they were not viewed prior to 1990.
One refused to even consider getting a low level experience building summer job in his professed career field, the kind of internship many college students and grads would kill for, for fear of losing a dead-end part time year round job - and his father backed him up 100%.
a lot of fruit & veggie growers in Alabama looking for help....
Just what we need,,,more out of work, bored out of their skulls young people wandering the streets looking for “kicks.” And 99% of them will vote for the preezy because of the brainwashing they’ve gotten in school.
A member of my extended family has been searching diligently since the second week of January, and just the other day landed a part-time gig in a retail store.
In normal times you could have found such a job within a couple of days.
And that part time gig probably pays close to minimum wage. How is someone supposed to make it on that? This is how far this country has gone down due to Obama,Democrats and China. With technology growing at an exponential rate our standard of living should have been rising but it hasn’t and there are no good jobs. China has manipulated currency and taken all our jobs, technology , factories.
It was bad for teens/young people when Carter was president, too.
Even with job experience and degrees it’s very difficult for adults to find jobs, why shouldn’t it be as hard, or worse, for the teens? Most of them will probably still eat if they don’t work, older adults on the other hand...
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