Using the search engine http://www.google.com/search, I found some statistics related to teens working on a job. However, only one bit of information was found showing the percentage of teens at work. None has shown the age group or gender classification of the population of the study.
One of the sites had shown a bar graph with 91 teens surveyed. About eight out of 91 admitted to currently working on a job.
According to Annie Schleicher, the earlier a person begins to work, the more money one will earn. Out of the many reasons for working early are helping family, self-supplies, and/or college expenses. The majority of employed teens work in either restaurants or stores (26% each). The remaining teen-at-work population work in offices, property care, or others. Possible gains for teenagers at work are pay, experience, courage, and responsibilities.
Today more teenagers are working than in the past. In fact, there is an incline in teenagers working while in school since 1980s: Anywhere from 15 hours/week up to 20 hours/week. Working as a teen helps increase development of new skills. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (1999) says that 57% of the 14 year-olds had working experiences, and 64% of the 15 year-olds had worked at least once in their life. About ¾ of high school students work at least 15 hours a week, and the number of hours keeps increasing.
In 2003, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) restricted teenagers to be at least 14 year of age to work. However, several types of jobs like agricultural employment allow employees under 14. The Child Labor Law only allows 14 to 15 year olds to 3 hours per day or 18 hours per week jobs. The work should be no later than 7 pm. These age group workers are allowed to 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week with no working later than 9 pm during the summer. For 16 to 17 year old teenagers, they also subject to a limited number of working hours, but no as much restricted as the younger ones. For 18 year-old workers, there are no restrictions, especially to the number of hours work and the type of job. Most recently, the child minimum wage was raised from $4.75/hour to $5.25/hour since 1996 to 1997. The following has several limits to teen employment:
14-15 years and under: non-farming and non-hazardous jobs
Under 18 years: non-farming jobs
From the site < http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/fact1.htm> was 17 limited type of jobs to youth under 18.
Manufacturing or storing explosives
Driving a motor vehicle and being an outside helper on a motor vehicle
Coal mining
Logging and sawmilling
Power-driven wood-working machines
Exposure to radioactive substances and to ionizing radiations
Power-driven hoisting equipment
Power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machines
Mining, other than coal mining
Meat packing or processing (including power-driven meat slicing machines)
Power-driven bakery machines
Power-driven paper-products machines
Manufacturing brick, tile, and related products
Power-driven circular saws, band saws, and guillotine shears
Wrecking, demolition, and ship-breaking operations
Roofing operations
Excavation operations
|
Type of jobs |
Percentage |
|
Work in restaurants |
26 |
|
Work in stores |
26 |
|
Work in offices |
11 |
|
Lawn care |
6.6 |
|
Babysitting |
6 |
|
Lifeguard or recreation |
4.6 |
|
Construction |
1.7 |
Works Cited
http://www.josh.org/notes/file/Internet16-TeenStatistics.pdf
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june04/teenjobs_6-21.html
http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/ndarling/transition/group27/balance.htm
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/employmentlaw/a/childlaborlaw.htm
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/mwposter_PF.htm
http://teenink.com/Past/1998/9203.html
http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/fact1.htm
.