I don't know about you, but when I turned 15 I was eager and searching for a job. But in 2017, studies are showing that there is less enthusiasm among teens to do so.

Recently, there was a report that showed a decline in the teenage workforce in America. Only 35-percent of teenagers reportedly had jobs in the summer of 2016. Collectively, that's not very many.

In the 70's and 80's, the majority of teens had their own job. In some states, as long as they had a work permit, they could earn cash during the week and certainly on the weekend.

So, what seems to be the problem with teens today?

Ira Wolfe, founder of Success Performance Solutions, said he kept a magazine from the 60's highlighting some baby boomers. The article described them as lazy, narcissistic, self-centered.

Has that trend revisited our youth in America today?

Wolfe, while being interviewed by Tim Silfies of WFMZ-TV, said that many of the Millennials, aka the "Y Generation", ages 22-35 years old, are now doing the jobs that teenagers used to do because they're underemployed.

Seniors have also stepped up to the plate to work some of these same jobs that many of us held as teenage kids.

Silfies stated that since 1985, teens in the workforce have shown a significant decline. On the other hand, reports show that teens are taking additional classes in the summertime and the numbers of teens doing that increased during that same time frame.

To the public, it would seem that many of the teens today are like those described in the article of the 60's magazine, that they're lazy and just want to play video games, but it seems that statistics show a different story.

Ira Wolfe added that the teens today are preparing for college, are in band camps and sport camps and other educational venues.

So, it might suffice us to say that we can rest easy knowing that our teens are not at a loss, they are just spending their time and summer days doing other productive things in planning for their future.

 

 

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