Once a teenage rite of passage, the summer job is vanishing.
Instead of baling hay, scooping ice cream or stocking supermarket shelves in July and August, today's teens are more likely to be enrolled in summer school, doing volunteer work to burnish their college credentials or just hanging out with friends.
For many, not working is a choice. For some others, it reflects a lack of opportunities where they live, often in lower-income urban areas: They sometimes find that older workers hold the low-skill jobs that once would have been available to them.
In July 1986, 57 per cent of Americans ages 16 to 19 were employed. The proportion stayed over 50 per cent until 2002 when it began dropping steadily. By last July, only 36 per cent were working.
But the longer-term trend for teen employment is down and likely to stay that way for several reasons:
Teenagers and their parents are increasingly aware of the value of a college education. A result is that more kids are spending summers volunteering or studying, to prepare for college and compete for slots at competitive schools.
In July 1986, just 12 per cent of Americans ages 16 to 19 were taking summer classes. Thirty years later, the share had risen to 42 per cent.
Teens who do want to work can find that older workers are standing in the way. The summer jobs teens used to take — flipping burgers, unpacking produce at the grocery store, cashiering at the mall — are increasingly filled by older, often foreign-born, workers. In 2000-2001, teens accounted for 12 per cent of retail workers, researchers at Drexel University found. Fifteen years later, it was just 7 per cent. Over the same period, the teenage share of restaurant and hotel jobs fell from 21 per cent to 16 per cent.
In wealthier areas, teens are more likely to be attending summer school, doing volunteer work, travelling with their families or pursuing sports or other extracurriculars.