Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Far fewer teens work today compared with 30 years ago, and it's down to a changing culture. It used to be the norm that once kids reached a certain age - 15 or 16 - they were expected to work for their spending money. Places like food courts used to be staffed entirely by teenagers. Landscaping was another job performed by 16-21 year olds.
I'm guessing the change had something to do with the rise of 2-income households, where teen income is no longer needed by the family. School is more competitive now, too, so parents don't want their kids working on weeknights. Then there's the general tightening control over childhood - a lot of people don't want their 16 year old taking a bus to work at a mall several nights a week.
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Also the rise in immigrants. It's easier to staff a few reliable and hard-working immigrants to work 40 hrs / week than a boat load of teens part-time who may or may not make it to an early shift on Sat or Sun morning.