Why teens have a tough time finding summer work

Many are enrolling in summer classes or doing community service while others are squeezed out by adults competing for the same entry-level jobs.

from the June 12, 2007 edition

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Why is this happening?

The trend is partly a story of changing choices by teens and their parents. Many, especially in upper- or middle-class neighborhoods, have decided that academic or volunteer activities may look better on college applications.

But some economists who study the teen labor market say jobs are also scarcer than in past years, affecting young people of all backgrounds. Finding work remains much harder for young black, Latino, and Asian-Americans than for their white peers.

On Washington Street here, Dedric isn't the only young African-American hoping for a job. Just down the block, Gerald Richardson, 13, has been volunteering after school, mentoring other kids at the Salvation Army. He says he wants to do more of that, for pay, during the summer.

He has a good shot at getting his wish, since city funding will help create 40 jobs here. But last year, this same community center was able to hire 48 young people like Gerald.

"Funding is tough," says Matt Parker, who will be doing the hiring. He says job opportunities are slimmer now than when he was Gerald's age in the mid-1990s.

"Kids are competing for a lot of jobs with adults now," Mr. Parker says, whether it's bagging groceries or doing a financial internship, as he did one summer.

The challenges faced by young Boston residents are mirrored, to varying degrees, in communities nationwide.

Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, which Professor Sum heads, predicted in April that just 36.5 percent of teens will have jobs this summer, down from 37.4 percent last year and 45.3 percent in 2000. Those numbers are seasonally adjusted, smoothing out differences between summer and school-year employment, so they are lower than unadjusted summer numbers. What's significant, and surprising, is the direction of the forecast.

"Extraordinarily weak," given that it comes after four years of solid economic growth, Sum says.

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