Summer Work or Summer School

June is upon us, and teens are choosing summer school over summer jobs at an ever increasing rate. "The percent of 16-to-19-year-olds enrolled in summer school has tripled in the last 20 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."  With tougher high school graduation requirements, more pressure to attend college than ever before and greater competition from adults for minimum wage jobs, kids are increasingly spending their summers in classrooms rather than working for pay.

The 25% decline in the teenage labor force participation rate now matches their greater college enrollment rates. Kids remain busy, but they are engaged in schoolwork or taking other formal training rather than holding a job.

Some clearly prefer to study in air conditioned comfort rather than work in the outdoor heat. Others may end up seeking summer courses due to difficulties in getting hired. Researchers cite four reasons to explain why teens have a harder time finding jobs during the three-month break in American high schools classes.  

First, the rise of low-skill immigration in the last few decades has created more competition for exactly the sort of jobs that teenagers used to do—like grocery-store cashiers, restaurant servers, and retail salespeople. Second, older Americans stay in the workforce longer than ever before, and many of them wind down their careers in the sort of jobs that used to be the province of 16-year-olds in the summer ....

Third, the number of federally funded summer jobs, where students take temporary jobs with their local government, has declined. At the same time, the minimum wage has grown, which may have discouraged bosses from taking on young inexperienced workers who are only “worth” hiring at a salary that’s become illegal. Together, these policies have reduced the number of temporary paid jobs for teenagers in the public and private sector. Fourth, companies have caught on to the fact that if they want to hire teenagers, they don’t have to pay them, at all: There has been an extraordinary rise in unpaid internships over the last decade. Although these teenage interns are clearly working, they don’t count as workers in government statistics, because they’re not getting paid.

Longitudinal studies show that age 16 to 19 whites had a civilian labor force participation rate of about 45% during June, July and August of 2015 and 2016. It was 35% for Hispanics of the same ages, while black kids never reached the 30% participation level.

The reasons for the racial disparities are unclear. Fewer local job opportunities, fewer connections to land the rare openings and fewer outfits hiring someone not just like their kids are all possible answers. No compelling evidence has been presented yet to explain the discrepancies. Can't be a simple "majority versus minority" thing alone, since Hispanics are the largest racial minority in the USA but their workforce participation rate is much higher than that of black teens. Examination of the monthly graph rates shows that while Hispanic patterns closely track those of white kids for each month (similarly and proportionately spiking during summer months), black teen work participation rates are consistently flat year-round, almost never reaching the 30% level.

The last two years show exactly the same patterns as the civilian work participation rates of 1978 and 1979 ... but with rates about 50% less for each demographic group. Oh, and another potential cause for the declines can be postulated: summer work at dead-end jobs is no longer considered cool by this generation's peer groups. Perhaps taking make-up classes to assure graduation or cramming to achieve higher college entrance exam scores is more socially acceptable.

What do you think?  And what might it mean?

E. James (Jim) Brennan, former Senior Associate of pay surveyor ERI, recently returned to consulting. Author of the Performance Management Workbook and veteran expert witness in executive compensation trials, Jim also serves on the Advisory Board of the Compensation and Benefits Review.

"Summer Job" image by haccord75, courtesy of Creative Commons

Comments

[Chris Dobyns]

Good topic, with a familiar ring (http://www.compensationcafe.com/2016/07/where-has-all-the-entry-level-experience-gone.html) to it, and posted almost exactly one year apart. Jim's posting focuses on some of the front-end barriers and greater prioritization that factor into selecting the fork in the road that leads to summer and part-time employment.

My posting focused on the outcomes and benefits of what early work experience can bring to early careerists. I'm pleased to report that of our four (yes, four) summer intern group this year, all arrived on day one with at least some prior work experience under their belts. Every little bit helps.

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

If our tag-team performances are separated by a full year, is that still evidence of conspiracy, Chris? Didn't even preview this with you, either.

Glad you reminded us of your post of last year that discussed the positive value of student experience in the workforce. Whether the early employment be temporary, part-time or seasonal, or in either the civilian or government sectors, it can be a special form of training that applies classroom learning.

[Amber T]

My son has applied to several local teen type summer jobs, and even went in for interviews, until they realized he was under 18. They refuse to hire minors.

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

Times have changed, Amber. For my first regularly employer-paid summer job, I became a union member when still under 16.

[April]

Perhaps teens from poorer families also have to help with childcare for younger siblings or participate in such off the grid type work during the summer.

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

As April notes, in many areas, work is paid "under the table," without payroll tax deductions that reduce the take-home income and increase the cost to the employer. Some people spend their entire lives doing cash-only work where no one reports anything. They are invisible to the tax collectors and economic analysts.

In some countries, onerous official pay rules have created underground workforces so immense that their national employment and earnings statistics are meaningless. The response to many expensive regulations is frequently not compliance but instead avoidance.

[Denny]

Thank you writer for the summary.