<p>Teen</a> joblessness may hit record in summer 2011 - Yahoo! News</p>
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The summer employment rate among U.S. teen-agers this year was projected at between 25 percent and 27 percent, based on an analysis of four decades of employment trends by Andrew Sum of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. That would be a post-World War Two low, while as recently as 2006 the teen summer employment rate was 37 percent.</p>
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<p>I, for one, believe it. I am just finishing up my first year of college - I applied to what I consider to be a fairly large number of jobs (over 40). While some were internships/more related to my major (engineering), a lot of them were just typical teenage summer jobs. I was actually rejected by every single thing I applied to. With the engineering related positions, the main problem was that I was a freshman. With more typical jobs, no one really wants only a summer commitment, unless it’s something like a summer camp. Beyond that, a lot of places just weren’t hiring anyone, period.</p>
<p>This is the reason I am always bothered when I read assurances from posters on the Fin Aid forum that students can earn $3000 or more over the summer to offset college costs. It’s not something that can be assumed.</p>
<p>Yep, agree with this assessment. Son has been looking and applying, but there are hardly any jobs for teens this summer (same as last) and we are in the DC suburbs. He’s doing full time volunteering again at a local Art Center, but he really enjoys it. He tried to volunteer at a food bank where he worked a couple summers ago and they actually turned him away saying they have too many teens this year! Too many volunteers at a food bank?! Wow.</p>
<p>I’m not surprised that the food bank is overrun with volunteers. We live outside DC and because so many schools have service hour requirements, places are full up with volunteers. My DD goes to a Catholic HS that requires her to volunteer 30 hours every year, and it’s tough for her to fulfill that requirement at conventional sites.</p>
<p>Re: paying jobs, it definitely is difficult. My DD worked last summer at an ice cream shop & has been hired again for the season, but those jobs are much in demand. She really had to persist last year by going by very early (February or March) and making personal visits as well as contacting the owner online. </p>
<p>My DS will have a paid job at a summer camp, but he had a personal contact b/c the camp is at the school he used to attend. If he plans to supplement that job with other work, he’ll be hard-pressed to find anything.</p>
<p>You all are making me feel better that my HS son’s schedule leaves little time for work. The “summer” places around here want a committment from May to September - really difficult for the HS kids who have ECs. I can’t blame the employers, but it sure is different than when I was young.</p>
<p>D is a first year and has a job for the summer. It is not a great job, but even minimum wage adds up.</p>