Working in High School Doesn't Pay Off the Way It Used To
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The high school job is almost as dated as the mix tape. In 2010 just 16 percent of teenagers worked during their senior year of high school, down from over 30 percent throughout the 1990s. Even the once ubiquitous summer job is out of fashion. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the summer of 2000 almost 52 percent of teenagers worked; in 2009 just 33 percent did.
The fall in teenage employment has inspired the obvious handwringing. At the same time, a new study suggests that the benefits to teenage work have fallen with teen employment rates. Kids who decline to work aren’t suffering ill effects—yet.