Teens should get jobs starting at age 15, so they can learn to manage and save their money efficiently. They can learn how to choose what to spend their money on and how much they should save every paycheck. They should also learn how to set up a bank account and withdraw and deposit money into it.
According to TheStreet.com, only 42% of teens have a savings account, and, even worse, 35% don’t even have a normal bank account, so they have to rely on cash and make sure that they don’t lose it. If they do happen to lose their cash, there is no way they can get it back unless someone sees them drop it and does the right thing by giving it back. Kidsmoney.org states, “…approximately 5.5 million American teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were part of the U.S. workforce as of May 2022.” This may seem like a big number, but there are 42 million people under the age of 20 who live in the U.S. This leaves 36.5 million without any flowing money or financial skills.
Jobs have their benefits, but people may argue about the downsides, and they are it would take a lot of free time away or conflict with sports, however, if you are under 16 there is a limited amount of hours you are allowed to work. There is a way around those downsides, sports conflicting? The managers will try their best to work around your schedule even if that means having a whole week off.
Another advantage of getting a job would be the social skills you learn. If you get a job at Subway for example, or any fast food restaurant where you have to interact with people, you could get away from things like social anxiety by talking to people you’ve never talked to before or working with people that make that environment fun. Polaristeen.com says, “Social anxiety disorder (SAD) affects 1 out of 3 adolescents between 13 and 18 years old. Over 19 million people across America suffer from social anxiety disorder (SAD) today. It is the most common anxiety disorder and third most common mental health disorder in the country.” Having these skills might be able to get a better-paying job or a better position in the job you’re at now.
The last reason why teens should have jobs is so they can afford their own car because teens old enough to get a job almost all have their license. If they want to go to a big college like OSU, LSU, UOM, or Penn State, they would be able to pay off some of their college tuition or student debt. They might also rely on their parents for money when they go out, and some parents won’t make their kid pay them back. So if they were to put in an application for a job they don’t have to be told, “No more money” and then can’t do what their friends planned. These are the reasons I give why teens should get a job throughout high school.
