{"id":1163,"date":"2026-06-03T23:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T23:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=1163"},"modified":"2026-06-03T23:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T23:38:20","slug":"youths-arent-bothering-to-get-summer-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=1163","title":{"rendered":"Youths aren\u2019t bothering to get summer jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OPINION:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is summer hiring season, but the kids are not lining up for jobs. Either they are not looking, or employers are not hiring. Most likely it is the former.<\/p>\n

Read more Man nabbed with bomb in California airport<\/a><\/p>\n

Too many teenagers do not work year-round, and many do not even get a part-time summer job.<\/p>\n

To borrow a term from Joe Pesci in \u201cMy Cousin Vinny,\u201d what\u2019s wrong with this generation of \u201cyutes\u201d?<\/p>\n

When I was a teenager, I caddied, was an usher at a movie theater, and worked in the equivalent of a hot, musty Amazon warehouse, filling orders for equipment.<\/p>\n

The latter was a tough and boring job for $2.25 an hour, but it taught me to show up for work on time, be nice to the foreman and do a little extra to get noticed and earn a raise (to $2.40). Yet the most important lesson that job imparted was that I had better start taking school seriously or I would be spending the rest of my years punching a time clock.<\/p>\n

The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that only 35% of teenagers are working or looking for a job. That is down from 50% or more throughout most of the 1960s, \u201970s, \u201980s and \u201990s.<\/p>\n

This is deeply troubling. Study after study shows that the earlier one begins working, the more successful they are likely to be later in life. Teen employment \u2014 even if the job is just lifeguarding or scooping ice cream \u2014 is strongly associated with earning money in later years.<\/p>\n

In these first jobs, young people learn the Woody Allen rule that 80% of success in life is just showing up. Pampering parents are also guilty of failing to teach their children these vital life lessons.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, people who work also tend to be happier than people who do not. Too much leisure is a bad thing \u2014 especially among teens, who will otherwise have their faces glued to their cellphones all day. Most people want to be fulfilled by being makers, not takers.<\/p>\n

Smart policy changes can get teens back into the workforce where they belong. I have long advocated a minimum wage of $5 to $6 per hour for teens to incentivize employers to hire them for starter jobs.<\/p>\n

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Our politicians do a great disservice in pricing high-school-age kids out of the labor market. It goes back to the age-old truism: The best job training program is on-the-job training.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump refuses to commit to dropping $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund<\/a><\/p>\n

What other steps can policymakers take to get kids off their cellphones and video games and into productive activities? One is to change the entire culture of post-high-school education. We have fallen into a trap of asking what is better for young people who graduate from high school: working or going to college?<\/p>\n

For most people, attending a university \u2014 for all the craziness of late on college campuses \u2014 is absolutely associated with higher earnings.<\/p>\n

Yet this is a false choice. College-age individuals should be in school and <\/em>working. There is no reason a young adult attending college should not be working 15 to 20 hours a week. If they worked to pay for their college degree, then they would make sure the on-campus experience and the classes they take are valuable.<\/p>\n

Schools such as College of the Ozarks require every student to work 20 hours a week and to carry a full course load to pay for their education. Those youths, many of whom I have met, are better for it. Idle hands, as the saying goes, really are the devil\u2019s playground.<\/p>\n

There is one more reason that more than half of teens should work at least part time: America is rapidly aging, and baby boomers are now in their mid-60s through late 70s. They are dropping out of the labor force faster than young generations are entering.<\/p>\n

It is a numbers game driven by demographics. More than 10,000 older Americans are retiring every day, but only about 8,000 are entering the workforce. This story will not end happily ever after if these trends continue.<\/p>\n

Whenever I give a speech to older Americans, I start out by asking the audience: \u201cDo you remember your first job?\u201d Everyone raises their hand and can recite with pride and joy \u2014 unless their memories are gone \u2014 what they did on that first job and the meager paycheck they received.<\/p>\n

They also notice for the first time how much the IRS takes out in taxes, a simple life lesson that helps young people understand the heavy toll of government.<\/p>\n

Many of the youths on college campuses protesting government spending cuts have never paid into the kitty. Doing so is a life-changing experience. Best to learn it when you are young.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the America First Policy Institute and chairman and co-founder of Unleash Prosperity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more House passes war powers resolution to end hostilities in Iran, weakens Trump\u2019s negotiating leverage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is summer hiring season, but the kids are not lining up for jobs. Either they are not looking, or employers are not hiring. 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