New 2021 statistics could show the beginning of an upward trend in summer employment levels from previous historic lows, according to Pew Research Center.
The share of teens who have jobs has been sliding downward every decade since 1989 and hit 24.7% in 2009, the lowest rate in recent U.S. history. In the summer of 2021, teen rates rose to 30.3%, which is the highest rate since the Great Recession.
For years, strong emphasis has been placed on teens going to college. For the post-millennial generations, compared to the millennial generation, college is being viewed more as a necessity than an add-on by youth.
Three teenagers from that post-millennial generation — Allie Rich, Alivia Robles and Baden Wood — all said that education was more important to them than a summer job. They want to go to college and getting in isn’t a matter of simply applying. Colleges are asking teens to check boxes like community service, extracurricular activities and high academic achievement — which all compete for a student’s limited time.
Surveys of American youth by Pew Research Center agree. The percentage of 18- to 20-year-olds who enrolled in college after high school in 1986 was 44%, By 2017, that percentage had jumped to 59%.
Deseret News asked Rich, Robles and Wood why they wanted to get summer jobs in 2022.
Since he was about 13, Baden Wood,...
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