Summer Earnings: Where Does The Student Get That Extra $3000?

Parents Forum
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<p>“The state legislature on Monday approved a bill that raises the wage floor from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2018. The hike in hourly wages will be made gradually – edging up to $8 an hour on Jan. 1, 2015 and $8.25 on July 1, 2015. After that, it goes up in 50-cent increments in 2016 and 2017, and hits $10.10 on July 1, 2018.”</p>

<p>On January 1, 2015, minimum wage workers will see their pay increase from $7.25 to $8.00 per hour. A student working for 12 weeks, 40 hours a week, in the state of Maryland will not clear $3000 after mandatory deductions for taxes and minimal summer expenses UNLESS, as some of you have noted:</p>

<p>(1) The student works at least 10 hours a day,
(2) works 2 or more jobs, or
(3) makes at least $10.00 an hour</p>

<p>@millan I excluded summer internships from my post because they do seem to pay good wages but I do not believe that it is common for many students to have internships lined up for the summer.</p>

<p>@Vladen My daughter’s last exam was on May 26, 2014 and she has to return to campus the week of August 25th, so unfortunately, she does not have 17 weeks. I cannot remember my daughter ever leaving school before Memorial Day to start the summer.</p>

<p>My daughter has been very fortunate to have been offered many research internships over the past few summers which I attribute to her success at school, the major she has and, to some degree, LUCK. But if she had to work a minimum wage job (1 job) in Maryland, she would not clear $3000 after expenses. But, as @momofthreeb said, it is all about choices, even though, for some students, I believe it is not as easy to clear $3000, even if they wanted to.</p>

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<p>Well, most jobs in my state pay more than minimum wage now. My no experience 18 year old was hired as a receptionist for 10 bucks (her first job ever) and in a restaurant as a cashier for $9.50. So yeah. </p>

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<p>When they raise the minimum wage, the expected contribution will be $5000.</p>

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<p>It’s possible, but takes multiple jobs, usually at least one year round gig plus a seasonal one. Most jobs are going to pay right at to a little above minimum wage. Annual wages will exceed $3000 if working year round.</p>

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<p>@thumper1 Lifeguarding is a good job and my DD is a certified lifeguard. Her school is one of the latest to start summer break, so most of the slots are taken up by students who are home much earlier. She does use that certification to her advantage during the school year.</p>

<p>@DrGoo Never gave that any thought but I hope not.</p>

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<p>My lifeguard kid is making less this year then last year because of school schedules and few leadership conferences and such but less is still way over 3-thousand. In fact, it’s at least double and close to triple that with overtime and holiday pay. However, he’s at a beach not a pool and gets full time hours. They happily work around the schedules of returning lifeguards although it might be difficult for new hires. </p>

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<p>At the moment I have 2 jobs so I’ll be saving a little more but last summer I worked full time at a daycare making a little over minimum wage, which, in NY was 7.25. I made 7.50 and I managed to save 3000 over the summer. Now I work 6 days a week between2 jobs and one I’m making 9.08 an hour and since minimum wage went up to 8$ I’m also making that. </p>

<p>Since the end of April I’ve already saved 3000+ I have ~ 2600 in the bank and I don’t move back into school until September 1. So at this rate I’ll be right around 5k </p>

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<p>One of my kids just made over 2K for a one-week medical experiment (drug trial). </p>

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<p>Atomom…do they need any adults? Where do I call :)</p>

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<p>Dang! Our state minimum wage is $9.32</p>

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<p>Again, the consensus seems to be that one has to work at least 2 jobs above minimum wage to clear at least $3000 or be able to work more than 12 weeks above minimum wage. Like my DD, some students do not have 17 weeks off during the summer. She has almost 13 weeks from the time she took her last final to when she has to return to school.</p>

<p>@atomo child’s case is highly unusual, but from the responses on this forum, it seems like only a relative FEW makes minimum wage. </p>

<p>I am happy to read that @Jazzii and many others are able to make that amount of money in the summer.</p>

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<p>

Yep, just like I thought, which I believe makes it a bunch of croc. </p>

<p>To make that summer contribution you’re saying I need to work full time hours through multiple minimum wage jobs? Pfft, okay. I’m not going to do that. </p>

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<p>$3k is certainly doable, but yes- it often requires 40+ hours/week. It’s not always possible. Even now, even minimum wage jobs are very hard to come by for summer employees where I live (metro Detroit). There are enough adults around to work those year round that they don’t need college employees. </p>

<p>I had a job that paid $10/hour that I started in high school and was always able to come back to during the summer. I then worked 40+ hours on top of that one through two other jobs. It really kind of sucked but I didn’t have a choice. I was incredibly grateful that I already had several years of work experience going into college as it allowed me to land some much more than minimum wage jobs in college that I could work year round. Going to college with work experience already makes it easier to land more than min wage jobs IMO (making the 3k easier to get in subsequent years) </p>

<p>With that said, I thought most schools that required some kind of summer contribution just required that you made x amount throughout the year (summer + school year) rather than a summer contribution PLUS a year contribution. </p>

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<p>The extra $3000 I referenced in this post was the amount of money a student would have saved by the end of summer prior to returning to school in the Fall. </p>

<p>For example: Student Summer Wages – Mandatory Taxes – Summer Expenses – ‘Self Help’ Contributions = at least $3000.</p>

<p>Too often, I have read forums where someone is told that it shouldn’t be a problem to reduce a gap in aid by at least $3000 with summer earnings. Unless a parent is paying the ‘self help’ portion for the student, I still believe it will be a difficult task for many to achieve.</p>

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<p>I think $3000 is a stretch for kids who have other obligations during the summer besides work. What if the parents plan a vacation? What if the work is weather-dependent (yard work, painting houses)? What if he/she has some other obligation related to school or an EC that makes it hard to get 40 hours a week in?</p>

<p>Both of my kids are willing to work hard, but they have been really disappointed with how their various summer schedules have played out. My daughter works at a place that is either woefully understaffed or very overstaffed (right now it’s the latter). My son has had to rely on noncommittal independent contractors for yard/construction work (of course, he hasn’t realized this till he was halfway into the summer). And now he’s out of the country for two months in a funded language/cultural exchange program.</p>

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<p>D has an unpaid internship. She found a part-time job, worked for 3 weeks, and was fired for reasons I consider “sketchy”. Now she’s doing some work for us. It’s difficult to get part-time summer work here. A lot of places want someone who will continue to be available in the fall. Full time jobs just for the summer are even more unlikely. S is working part-time and is getting a pretty good number of hours. Probably won’t clear $3000 though. </p>

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<p>I have a hard time accepting that a vacation is an obligation for a college kid who needs to earn money for school. </p>

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<p>D2 is working a summer retail job plus house-sitting/pet-sitting. The retail job is entry-level and minimum wage, and does not offer full-time hours. She likely won’t clear 3,000 this summer but the experience is good and she can keep the job if she wants to work during the school year.</p>

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<p>All the “internships” I know of either pay $10-15/hour and some even better than tha OR they pay nothing but “credit”. A few will pay commuting expense.</p>

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<p>Well. I agree is not the easiest thing in the world to find someone to hire you to do 40 hours of unskilled work a week for a coupe of months. But, it is certainly possible for almost anyone to earn 3K dollars a year. My kid who’s home this summer scoffed at the idea that this was somehow a problem.</p>