The article answers its own question. Unemployment is at a 17-year low. Teenagers arent working fast food jobs because they dont have to. Supply of jobs is far greater than the demand for them.
But do teenagers care about unemployment figures? Wouldn't they work anyway, for their own spending money? Who is keeping Hot Topic afloat?
Does anyone really? Statistics dont mean much when it comes down to the individual. Apparently they are forgoing employment for education. Source
Their parents, give them spending money. Also, teens are driving later, which also contributes to them not desiring to work. When I turned 16, I couldn't get my license fast enough. I had to work to buy gas for the car, some sweet cassette tapes for my jams, and taking my girlfriend out. But, in most states, today's 16-year-olds can't drive their friends or dates around until they are 17 or 18.
So if the minimum wage is increased they will fire the employees because they can’t pay them. But if the employees all decide to not work for a low wage the companies are going to magically decide to pay them more? I don’t disagree with you on some of the points about hiking the minimum wage but I don’t really understand what your solution is. And your last sentence just makes people tune you out. I’ll discuss with you but that’s like me saying republicans hate poor people and expecting you to listen to me.
I'm working with some 20-something-year-olds who don't even have a driver's license... they Uber and cab it everywhere. That's mind-boggling to me.
Touching on the driving topic for a minute...I didn't even know this was a thing. Why are kids waiting to get their licenses? Is it because of Uber and ridesharing programs? I would assume so, but part of me thinks it has something to do with independence. Like Rush said, when I was 16, I couldn't wait to get my license. It just seems to me teenagers are more dependent on other people than they used to be.
According to my 15 y/o step son, a lot of kids aren't anxious to get their DL's because they have limited hours they can drive, can't take their friends anywhere and "playing" with their friends entails sitting at home on their PS4's chatting while playing video games so no reason to go anywhere.
A lot of the tech people I read and listen to think this is because you can be in constant communication already. Back in the day the house had one phone line and your parents sure as hell didnt want you tying it up all damn night. Now you have your phone which allows you to be in constant contact with everyone all the time. No need to hangout. I personally wanted my license so I could drink, smoke and try to sleep with women. Maybe kids aren't into that any more?
Yea, once I got my license, it became my ticket to dating. Plus, I was the one with a car and drove myself to school while everyone else still rode the bus. I had infinitely more freedom. I also got my license as early as humanly possible. I'm 34 now and the idea of a 15-16 year old driving around gives me anxiety.
The instantaneous nature of the internet has changed the way that people interact on a daily basis. Hell, I'm not a teenager sitting at home but I still find it more convenient to communicate with people over the phone or internet rather than seeing them in person. I order a good chunk of the products that I purchase online. Several of my past times are things I can do on the computer. I think this is true with teenagers, and on top of that they have less money to do activities. I think teenagers historically were going out into trouble or getting into things or working because teenagers and kids in general have a lot of energy and need stimulation. Access to the internet is a constant stream of sensory input. I mean, hell, I can go to Reddit and instantly browse emotional mountaintops and valleys within the span of a couple of minutes, seeing things that are once in a lifetime, reading stories about people who have lost an infant baby, reading about scientific discoveries, seeing great and original art. And I don't even have to leave my house for all of that or spend any money on it. If you cannot afford/ have decided that you don't need a car, then you don't need money for gas, and there's no point in working that shitty job at the fast-food place. I remember being bored as a kid during Long Summers between school years. I doubt kids are ever bored now.
I was reading some newer statistics that were stating that teenagers are waiting longer to have sex, they on average have fewer Partners than teenagers in the past, and they are having safer sex. I think part of this is that teenagers are physically hanging out together a little less. They are venturing out independently a little less. Education and information is easier to access if you are looking for it.
Probably a number of factors: Ride share is ubiquitous, so getting a driver's license isn't the quantum leap in independence it used to be. Malls suck and are dying. No point trying to scalp Earth Wind and Fire tickets and hit on the girl behind the counter in a commercial graveyard. Aforementioned digital socialization
Nerds how in the hell is $7.25 "just fine?" I live in a much cheaper part of Texas than you do, and if you're making minimum wage down here, you're either on some kind of government assistance, living with your parents, or both. I mean if you consider that just fine, then I guess you're right, but I think that's a pretty sad existence.
I wrote my beginner’s test on my 16th birthday and got my road license three weeks later. There are few greater rushes in life than the first few times you drive a car on your own. No drug that makes you that happy. The insane freedom you suddenly have of being self-reliant in your transportation. You no longer had to ask to go anywhere. You just went. First car I drove was a 83 Caprice Classic which is only slightly smaller and less sexy than a 747 cargo plane. Only the AM radio worked. I gave zero fucks, I had WHEELS. I drive around that city at random, just feeling this incredible gift of freedom that just dropped into my lap. I was no longer a child after that. I can’t imagine why kids would collectively lose interest in something as big a deal as driving. That blows me away. When on that rare occasion I’m without my car for a few days I want to murder the entire world, it’s so damn frustrating. I’m making sure my daughter gets the full treatment when she’s 16: in-class, road school, and an “advanced driver’s course” (usually only one or two days in length), something that every kid should take.
Yea, I was down on my 16th birthday writing the written test, 6 months with having to drive with someone over 25(cant remember exactly) with a licence, then 18 months with only one non family member in the car. Now it is 1 year and 2 years.
I keep hearing that these are down among current teenagers, but Im pretty sure Im just seeing Vice articles stating it. I can see drinking and drugs being down as there are so many more outlets these days. Sex? Hormones really don't give you a choice in that matter. Though I keep hearing kids seem to be dating less? I just don't see any of the alternatives to sex with the opposite gender being anywhere near as fulfilling.
Remember the days of just hopping on your bike and gong to a friend’s place to knock on the door and see if they were there and wanted to do something? That process has changed. Just a little bit.
I also think part of the change is that now just about anyone with a shitty job has a big screen tv, netflix, the Internet on phone and/or laptop,and a video game console. And neverending online porn. Being entertained/distracted at home while doing what is tantamount to nothing is easier than ever. That is the real opiate of the masses.
I'll preface this by saying I think the minimum wage should go up. Maybe to $10 or so, but at some point the left (or at least a juicy chunk of the left) have decided that the minimum wage should mean living in relative comfort and worry free. I think you should be able to survive on it without constantly shitting your pants about how you'll make rent, but I'm not on board with the crazy spikes some people want. Not that long the governor of Illinois vetoed a bill to increase the state wide minimum wage to $15/hr. The median wage is about $18/hr statewide and all the neighboring states have low mins. Of course the governor vetoed it because he's a horrible person, hates people, pure evil blah blah blah. Forgive my bluntness, but the actual reason he vetoed it is because he's not a fucking moron. If he had signed it it would have been an absolute disaster, and anyone who thinks otherwise is absolutely clueless about how economics work in the real world. It concerns me that so many people are signing up for policies like that. Now, take a place like Seattle, and we've had mixed results and should get a good picture by 2020. Personally I think it will turn out okish. It won't be the nightmare conservatives pretend is coming, and it won't be relatively consequence free like some liberals think, but I'm guessing it'll ride the edge close enough that people will be able to draw their own conclusions on whether or not it was worth it. We'll see... but that's Seattle, a city with one of the most robust economies in the country. What works in Seattle (if it works) isn't necessarily something you can just slap out there nationwide. Liberals are correct in pointing out that most min wage hikes have worked out fine for the most part, but I hope or perhaps wish most understand that there is a big fucking difference in going up from $7.25 to $8 vs "gradually" increasing to $15 or $20 over a few short years. You do that, and sure a few businesses have to close down, but mostly it will be the employees themselves who get fucked. What happens to Wal-mart when you get a spike like that? Well, they aren't going anywhere. They'll just be more like Aldis. You'll get a drop in service and a slight price spike. That dude who tells you where the cheetos are because you're too lazy to find it yourself? He's gone. He is not worth $20/hr. Sorry, but he's not essential to Wal-mart's survival. Same goes for the guy grabbing all the shopping carts that lazy fucks leave spread all over the parking lot. You'll have the small deposit system or something similar. I certainly don't like or want to see vast numbers of employees making jack shit, but the solutions have to actually work.