Youth Summer Employment Outlook 2012

by Kate Aitchison - kate.aitchison@state.mn.us
March  2012

Teens looking for summer employment will face a challenging labor market this summer. While Minnesota’s overall unemployment rate is dropping and jobs are being added to the economy, teens and young adults are still feeling the impact of the recession.

While most teens are not engaged in full-time work and are not financially dependent on their wages, they can still be considered ‘unemployed’ if they are seeking work and unable to find it. As can be seen in Figure 1, the youngest workers in the country, ages 16-19, experience much higher rates of unemployment than their older counterparts. Moreover, during and after a recession (indicated by the gray vertical bars) youth unemployment rates tend to rise more sharply and remain high for longer. This is, at least in part, because many of these youth are coming into the labor market at a time when there are very few job vacancies. Moreover, they face competition from older, more experienced workers who lost jobs.

Nationally, teen summer employment has been dropping over time from around 45 percent of teens working in the 1980s to an employment-to-population ratio of roughly 26 percent in 2011 (see Figure 2). Minnesota teens have fared much better, with an average employment rate of around 40 percent in July 2011. The employment-to-population ratio provides an overall sense of how many teens are deciding to enter the workforce and finding jobs. The ratio is calculated using the number of employed 16-19 year olds divided by the total population of 16-19 year olds. The ratio has dropped significantly since the Great Recession as teens have been competing with more adults for fewer jobs. In addition to the effects of the recession on this portion of the labor force, some researchers note that youth are less likely to seek summer employment because of a greater focus on academics, participation in summer school, time spent volunteering, or less funding for government youth summer job programs.[1] Where teens who did not work were previously stigmatized as being lazy or privileged, most teens can now find commonality around not working during their summers. The values once associated with summer employment are now ascribed towards volunteering, traveling, or other pursuits since fewer teens are pursuing formal employment.

Teen Employment in Minnesota

The population of Minnesota’s 16-19 year olds who are employed during the summer months has sharply declined during the past 10 years, dropping 47 percent from summer 2000 to 2010. In the summer of 2010, Minnesota employed 83,000 teens, most of whom worked in Accommodation and Food Service or Retail Trade. Between 2000 and 2010 Manufacturing and Construction saw the sharpest loss of teen workers, down nearly 70 percent in both industries.  Both the overall decline and the sharper decline in Manufacturing and Construction are evidence of the toll that the Great Recession has had on teen employment opportunities. Table 1 identifies the industries with the most teen employment, the average monthly earnings of teens, and the overall change in employment and earnings from 2000 to 2010.

The average monthly earnings for young workers have remained fairly stable. Most teens can expect monthly earnings of around $650 from their summer work, with work in the Manufacturing and Construction sectors garnering higher wages of more than $1,000 per month, likely, in part, from longer hours spent on the job. While jobs in Manufacturing and Construction tend to be well-paid, these industries come with a higher risk of work-related injuries.

Is Teen Employment Important?

While employment rates for teens have shifted dramatically in recent years, teens still desire to work and their parents are eager for them to find jobs. Where some argue that employment for teens can lead to poorer performance in school or an increase in deviant behaviors, others suggest that a certain amount and type of work can be beneficial to young people.

Much of the research that looks at teens’ attitudes and values comes from the national Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, which has been surveying middle and high school students each year (approximately 17,000 per grade) since 1976. These data sets are used by researchers from a variety of fields to study trends in youth behavior over time. Some research has found that teens who work longer hours report less time spent on homework, less engagement at school, lower standardized test scores, or an increase in problem behaviors. The relationships between working and negative consequences are not causal however, and other factors obviously contribute to the overall success of a young employee at work and in school.[2]

Yet while these negative effects can be seen in a subset of teens who work more than 20 hours per week, overall, teens who work report high levels of job satisfaction. Additionally, they report other benefits of being employed, such as “the capacity to take responsibility, develop time-management skills, overcome shyness with adults, and handle money.” While there is no simple answer to the question of how many hours a teen should work, researchers conclude that teen employment can “promote healthy development of some young people, especially when it is moderate in intensity and steady in duration”.[3]

The type of work teens engage in is also important, because factors like job stress, potential injuries, and work schedules that interfere with school can be detrimental to teens. One study, published in 2010 in the Journal of Business & Psychology, used the MTF data to look at the characteristics and quality of teen jobs. Results indicated that the highest quality jobs were found in office and clerical positions, where teens “report low job stress, older coworkers and supervisors, little interference with school and family roles, and ample opportunities to learn new skills or build a career”. Fast-food workers had the lowest job quality based on the criteria above, citing the highest amount of job stress and interference with education, family, and social life.[4]

How to Help Teens This Summer

Factors like those listed above should be used when evaluating potential employment for teens. Parents can also guide their teens by helping with time management skills, monitoring work hours, and helping identify jobs that will guide teens in their own career exploration. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that on average, Americans hold 11 jobs between the ages of 18-44, the majority of which are held between the ages of 18-27.[5] These jobs will be valuable in helping young adults establish their career paths and make decisions regarding post-secondary education.

Although the current job market is tough for teens, many specialty employment programs exist to ensure that young people are able get some work experience before graduating from high school. These programs may have a specific work-focus, such as agriculture or manufacturing, and will vary from region to region. In addition to the programs listed below, statewide youth employment program contacts can be found on DEED’s website at: www.PositivelyMinnesota.com/assets/youth/services/mypproviders.shtml.

Since summer employment is often teens’ first experience with work, it can be a conduit for future career exploration. Providing them with career information that can give them the facts about the work activities, wages, and educational requirements can help them make informed choices about other part-time work or long-term career possibilities. iSeek.org, Minnesota’s career exploration website, has information and resources for more than 500 careers and additional tools to help users create education and career plans and find jobs. MnCareers, an annual publication that offers easy-to-understand education and career information in printed format for students and job seekers, can also be found on the website.
 

[1]Morisi, Teresa. 2010. “The early 2000s: a period of declining teen employment rates.” Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2010 Volume 133(5): 23-35.
[2]Staff, Jeremy and John Schulenberg. February 2010. “Millenials and the World of Work: Experiences in Paid Work During Adolescence.” Journal of Business
& Psychology, February 2010 Volume 25: 248-249.
[3] Mortimer, Jeylan. April 2010. “The Benefits and Risks of Adolescent Employment.” The Prevention Researcher, April 2010, Volume 17(2): 8-11.
[4]Staff and Schulenberg, 251-252.
[5] Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2010. “Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market Activity, and Earnings Growth Among the Youngest Baby Boomers: Results from a Longitudinal Survey.” 9/10/2010. www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf

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