(WTVR) — Many teenagers are headed for the couch this summer instead of the workforce.
In fact, data shows only about 40 percent of teens will have jobs this summer. That’s nearly half of the 70 percent of teens who had jobs in the 1970s, according to the New York Post.
It appears teenagers have a different attitude about work, saying part-time jobs are taken by adults who are feeding a families, and by college-grads paying student loans.
Many teens also said they are more focused on boosting their grades and extracurricular activities, so they can get into a good college, instead of earning extra cash.
Mary Kay Linge, a Staten Island mother, told the Post, that two of her three teens would likely be moping around the house this summer.
In years past, it was commonplace for teens to find a seasonal job once school wrapped up.
“When I was 15, my daughter Teresa’s age, I did office data entry; at 17, like my son Peter, I worked factory gigs soldering circuits and packaging computer floppy disks,” Linge wrote.
Her daughter’s response seems to sum up a new generation.
“I hear all the part-time jobs are taken by adults feeding families and college grads paying student loans,” Linge’s daughter told her mother
. “Why would anyone hire an inexperienced teenager?”
What do you think? Are your kids looking for summer jobs? What was your first summer job? Weigh in on our Facebook post below.
