Should my Teenagers Get Jobs?

If you have teenagers in your family then you may wonder whether you should encourage them to get a job. There are pros and cons to them doing this and it is good to have a think through them before you speak to the children about it.

They can earn money

The main advantage for teenagers is that they will be able to earn some money. They will probably be keen to get as much money as they can so that they can buy all sorts of things that they want. Some might even be keen to use the money to save up perhaps towards buying a car or driving lessons or for university. This could also be an advantage for their parents. They may feel that they will no longer need to give them pocket money and they may no longer be nagged by the teenagers for money or items any more. It can therefore help everyone in the household to be better off. Some parents might also ask their children to pay a contribution towards the household out of their wages as well, although this does seem rather old fashioned and is not something most teenagers would be willing to do.

Looks good on CV

Having any sort of job can look good on a CV. Whether your child is looking to leave school and go to a sixth form college, go on to do a degree or go straight into work, they will benefit from having this work experience which could help them to cope better when they get a full time job.. It will also make them more mature as they will have to get used to being more independent and mixing with older people outside of the family. This can help them to come across better when they are having an interview as well.

Might disrupt schoolwork

There is a chance that working could disrupt their schoolwork. They may find that it takes up so much of their spare time that they fall behind with their homework and studies. They may feel tired too and find it harder to concentrate. This will not be the case with all teenagers and it will be determined by how much energy they generally have and how easy they find their schoolwork. Some may not do much schoolwork outside of school anyway but others may do a lot. It may also depend on whether they are looking to get really high grades or whether they are not so concerned about that.  

Might put them off working

If they have a bad experience of work, it might put them off getting a job. Of course, not all jobs are the same, but they might find it hard work and decide that they do not want to work that hard. Hopefully, this will not be the case, but teenagers can find a day of work difficult as they are not used to working for such long hours and this may exhaust them.

It is therefore not an easy decision. You will know though, how well your teenager tends to cope with their schoolwork and whether they tend to be high or low in energy most of the time. You will also know how much the extra experience will help on their CV and whether you think that it will make a significant difference to their future prospects. Lastly, you will need to consider how much the money will help them out and the household, bearing in mind the fact that teenagers cannot earn a very high hourly rate so the contribution that they will be able to make could be pretty small.

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