When your kids get their first jobs: Our Best Life

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- “Hi Mom,” my 12-year-old daughter said, as she bounded through the door with a fistful of crisp bills.

She was fresh off her first babysitting job, caring for a neighborhood kindergartener for the hour after school.

She was beaming. And I was proud.

I am thrilled that both my kids have entered the part-time, kid-friendly section of the work force.

My 14-year-old son has mowed our neighbor’s yard and reffed youth hockey. Now he’s planning to take caddying lessons, in hopes he can haul golf clubs for a few shifts this summer. What’s better than getting some exercise, being outside and making money, all at the same time?

My kids have been getting an allowance since kindergarten, but it’s tough to buy a Starbucks Acai Strawberry Lemonade Refresher or a whole lot of baseball cards on $2 a week. Birthday gift cards only go so far.

So if they want to splurge on candy from the Dollar Tree or Chipotle with their soccer team, they need income.

Youth employment peaks in July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In July 2024, 54.5 percent of young people ages 16 to 24 were employed, down half a percent from July 2023.

Looking at just teenagers, about 38% of 16-to-19-year-olds had a job or were looking for one in May, the highest in decades.

Since reaching a peak of 57.9% in 1979, participation of 16-to-19-year-olds in the workforce fell to 52% in 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate then plummeted in the Great Recession to reach 34.1% in 2011.

The reason for the decline between 2000 – when I was lifeguarding at my college rec center and interning for the now defunct Northern Ohio Live magazine – and now? A 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics report considered higher summer school attendance, increased pressure on education and competition from other demographic sectors.

In an interview with PBS, Northeastern University economics Professor Alicia Sasser Modestino pointed to a decline in the type of retail jobs teenagers used to inhabit folding clothes at mall stores, renting videos, bagging groceries.

So, while more teenagers worked in the 1970s and 1980s, Gen Z is actually working more than Millennials did at their age.

My first job was babysitting at 11, in our neighborhood. My mom was always home, so I could call if I needed anything, though I don’t remember needing anything.

Babysitting was fun! I got paid $2 an hour, basically to play! (At this age, I legitimately was still playing Barbies myself.) Most of my earnings went toward sweatshirts from the Gap.

At 15, I started lifeguarding for $4.25 an hour. My job interview was simple. The manager asked if I would clean toilets, and I said yes.

I lifeguarded through high school and into college, teaching swim lessons, twirling my whistle and playing Marco Polo in the deep end during rest period. Those summer hours in the sun, surrounded by other teenage lifeguards, adored by little kids, were golden.

Obviously, I learned first aid skills, and I learned how to budget my paycheck throughout a school year of movie tickets and Friday night ice cream at Friendly’s. But I also learned how to be reliable, save money, deal with a boss who didn’t like me, interact with customers.

This is what first jobs are about.

“Many teenage jobs are not ‘dead-end’ jobs, but instead provide opportunities for skill development, advancement, and interaction and mentorship with adults,” says Penn State University research. “These jobs may not only provide youth with important occupation-specific skills, they may also foster the development of `soft’ skills such as dependability, reliability, and punctuality.”

By working, kids can explore possible careers and create a network of mentors and contacts to help them navigate new work opportunities. They can build their resumes.

And they do that all without sacrificing their schoolwork. They can benefit from a few hours a week that they’d otherwise spend playing video games or watching YouTube on their phones.

My daughter’s job is already helping her manage her own schedule.

“Where are you going?” I asked, as I worked one afternoon on the porch.

She called back. “To babysit!”

Cleveland.com content director Laura Johnston writes weekly about life in her 40s in the column, Our Best Life. Subscribe to the newsletter to get the column delivered to your inbox Friday mornings. Find her on Instagram @ourbestlifecle.