When Should Teens get a Job?

 When Should Teens Get a Job?

Carter Pearson

According to a report by Zippia, 27.5 percent of teens were employed during the 2021 school year. This number, seemingly low, increased to 30.8 percent during the summer months. A job can be helpful in preparing you for the future, and giving you some extra spending cash, but when’s the best time to start looking for one?

The advantages of having a job as a teen basically come down to the basic points you’ve heard before. The most obvious is that it prepares you for later on in life. Holding a job can help develop responsibility, decision making, social skills, and other skills that are needed in everyday life. These skills can then play into a teenager’s life; it has been found that teens who work a reasonable amount of hours (less than 15/week) get better grades than teens who don’t work at all. A job also teaches you how to handle money. Getting paid in intervals gives you a sense of how you will live in the future and can provide insight into how much you can spend. 

But the biggest factor when deciding to get a job or not comes down to how much time you have on your hands. Deciding whether or not to get a job will be a different process for everyone. But something that everyone needs to keep in mind is their own limit. For people that are involved in multiple clubs or sports, a job might not be as attainable. Trying to balance meetings, practices, and homework all on top of a job could be extremely difficult, not to mention stressful. Additionally, these activities could help develop some of the character traits that a job would. 

But for those who have a lot of extra time on their hands, a job is a perfect option. Along with improving your skills and preparing you for the future, a job will give you some extra cash that can be used however you want. 

Taking all of these factors into consideration, I believe that the age of 16 is often the best time for teens to start getting a job. Although this isn’t a one-size-fits-all model, 16 is the age where most teens start driving. This does two things: it makes it easier for them to get to and from work, and it creates a larger need for money as gas can be expensive. Additionally, teenagers are typically mature enough at the age of 16 to hold a job and carry out the tasks that it might entail. 

In the end, getting a job is up to you and your family. But with enough time available, a job can be the perfect way to stay busy, prepare for the future, and get some extra money. 

Works Cited

Angus WhyteAngus is a writer from Atlanta. “The Pros and Cons of Teenage Jobs.” Evolve 

Treatment Centers, 21 Jan. 2021, 

https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/pros-cons-teenage-jobs/. 

“High School Job Statistics [2022].” Zippia, 

https://www.zippia.com/advice/high-school-job-statistics/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%201.

336%20million%20teens,the%20year%20as%20a%20whole.