From August to June, students at Southern Lehigh High School have likely spent every hour of each school day alongside their closest friends, teammates, and teachers. Yet, as soon as the last bell of the school year rings, everyone takes their first breath of “summer break,” and goes their separate ways for the next three months.
Some spend hours at the pool or the beach. Some take global vacations, such as through the school trip to Italy. Some spend their entire summer “unplugged” at a summer camp. But many fill their summer with countless hours devoted to stocking shelves, scooping ice cream, or serving food: a summer job.
Although it is common nowadays, teenagers working a “summer job” was not always such a familiar idea. According to the annual summer job outlook, the employment rate among teenagers was only 26% in 2010, dropping to a substantially lower rate of 2.6% throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. But as the country recovered, teenagers jumped back into the job market at a higher rate than ever: 32.8%.
Looking at all of those numbers, many may wonder why the increased employment rate among teenagers working a summer job is so important—well, there are countless reasons why.
On one end, as labor force participation rises, so does productivity among teenagers. During the school year, endless homework assignments or studying sessions tend to take up the majority of any teenager’s time. Yet, as school lets out, this allotted school work time lessens to a minimum, opening up quite a lot of free time.
For many teenagers, this free time is directed towards more “screen time” on their phones, laptops, or televisions. But for employed teenagers, this free time can be directed towards extra shifts.
“I look at my job as something to do that’s not sitting on my phone,” junior SOLECO community pool employee Madison Criscuolo said. “It’s refreshing.”
As teenagers, who are still developing anatomically, it is not only “refreshing,” but critical for our eyes and minds to take breaks from screens, and working a summer job is a great outlet for this.
On another end, jumping into the employment world not only contributes to the anatomical development of teens, but to their social development. In a school setting, teenagers are accustomed to socializing with those their age. Yet in the real world, this is not always the case.
Becoming successful does not just depend on intelligence or ideas, but the ability to communicate with “problematic” adult customers, “mean” bosses, or “strict” supervisors. But with experience comes comfort.
“I personally really like the aspect of helping other people throughout the store,” sophomore and Target employee Bennet Bronfenbrenner said. “It’s one of my favorite parts about working a summer job.”
Many teenage employees like this aspect of working a job. This not only sets them up with an income for the present, but also sets them up for success in the future. As the annual summer job outlook said, “the more teens work today, the more likely they will work tomorrow.” This proves to be a trend among SLHS working teenagers.
“During the school year I only work a few days of the week, but in the summer I hope to work a lot more,” junior and Copperhead Grille employee Madeline Coleman said.
In a part-time job, teenagers are showing a desire to work, not just for the money, but for the routine and experience.
“I seriously look forward to seeing all my coworkers,” Coleman said “[Copperhead Grille] is a comfortable and fun environment that I always want to come back to.”
This excitement among teenage employees presents great expectations in the American job market. Their desire to work correlates with long-term implications for labor supply, and a great future for the success of the job industry and the teenagers themselves.
