I love seeings kids working

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I think they're mostly wasting their time. If they need the money, there are more lucrative jobs (usually office jobs where you wouldn't see them). If they don't need the money there are volunteer activities that are more educational and valuable.

One of my kids has an office job this summer, making less than her BFF ice cream shop worker, who makes $19-$20 an hour with the tip share.

Is BFF working at Sarah's Handmade by any chance? I have to think they are doing well with the tip share!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The notion that kids need to work is a very middle class idea. MC parents think that low-wage, unskilled work is the only way a kid can “learn the value of a dollar.” They also associate physical work with “real work.” UMC people have every expectation that their kid will never perform such a job, so they focus on providing their kid experiences, further education/tutoring, and social skills.

Most UMC have kids work. You are not UMC.

This is not accurate (at least pre-college years).

Don’t know what you consider UMC, but with our HHI is $500k and our kid has been working since he was 16. Most of his friends are way better off than us, and they ALL work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The notion that kids need to work is a very middle class idea. MC parents think that low-wage, unskilled work is the only way a kid can “learn the value of a dollar.” They also associate physical work with “real work.” UMC people have every expectation that their kid will never perform such a job, so they focus on providing their kid experiences, further education/tutoring, and social skills.

I disagree. We are UMC and we encourage our kids to have jobs. Both of us grew up UMC, and didn't work much at all until we had "real jobs." We think that it made us both a little lazy and bratty, without realizing the value of money and budgeting.

So I do not think that you can generalize about an entire class of people, because plenty of UMC people that I know have working teens, even if it's just scooping ice cream in the summer.

Also, I think it gives kids confidence to do a job, even if it's just lifeguarding etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The notion that kids need to work is a very middle class idea. MC parents think that low-wage, unskilled work is the only way a kid can “learn the value of a dollar.” They also associate physical work with “real work.” UMC people have every expectation that their kid will never perform such a job, so they focus on providing their kid experiences, further education/tutoring, and social skills.

I disagree. We are UMC and we encourage our kids to have jobs. Both of us grew up UMC, and didn't work much at all until we had "real jobs." We think that it made us both a little lazy and bratty, without realizing the value of money and budgeting.

So I do not think that you can generalize about an entire class of people, because plenty of UMC people that I know have working teens, even if it's just scooping ice cream in the summer.

Also, I think it gives kids confidence to do a job, even if it's just lifeguarding etc.

Definitely this. I was a really shy kid but my parents expected me to work starting at 16 (UMC family). It really pushed me to be more confident. Also there's nothing like being accountable to other adults who expect you to show up on time and do a job.

[Anonymous]

The notion that kids need to work is a very middle class idea. MC parents think that low-wage, unskilled work is the only way a kid can “learn the value of a dollar.” They also associate physical work with “real work.” UMC people have every expectation that their kid will never perform such a job, so they focus on providing their kid experiences, further education/tutoring, and social skills.

Wrong! We are definitely UMC and all of our kids started working after their sophomore year in high school, if not earlier, because we want them to know “the value of a dollar.” We did the same thing as kids. Developing a strong work ethic is WHY we are UMC, and our kids have embraced the concept.

[Anonymous]

My UMC kids work various jobs. We match their earnings and contribute to their Roth IRAs. Amazing what $20K in Roth IRA at eighteen can do for 50+ years invested in index funds, with the expectation that they will eventually max out their Roth IRAs annually.

[Anonymous]

You sound like a meddling a$$hole, op. Stay in your lane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My UMC kids work various jobs. We match their earnings and contribute to their Roth IRAs. Amazing what $20K in Roth IRA at eighteen can do for 50+ years invested in index funds, with the expectation that they will eventually max out their Roth IRAs annually.

My UMC kids worked in their HS junior and senior years for a FinTech company and got paid $50/hour in 2020.  The oldest will start at UVA in about two weeks and he is still working for the same firm, remotely. 

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I think they're mostly wasting their time. If they need the money, there are more lucrative jobs (usually office jobs where you wouldn't see them). If they don't need the money there are volunteer activities that are more educational and valuable.

Office jobs are what daddy gets you. I’d never hire a kid out of college who had never had a real job before. It says a lot about a person how they choose to spend their free time.

I'm the PP you responded to and I've tossed out resumes from grad students who only worked in service jobs. I don't think either of us is representative of all hiring managers but it's important for people to know that not all managers value ice cream scooping or whatever.

BTW my "daddy" works in the service industry. My main takeaway was that I never wanted to do that: I got myself first jobs like tutor and receptionist.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like ice cream scooping is the “in” UMC teen job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The notion that kids need to work is a very middle class idea. MC parents think that low-wage, unskilled work is the only way a kid can “learn the value of a dollar.” They also associate physical work with “real work.” UMC people have every expectation that their kid will never perform such a job, so they focus on providing their kid experiences, further education/tutoring, and social skills.

I disagree. We are UMC and we encourage our kids to have jobs. Both of us grew up UMC, and didn't work much at all until we had "real jobs." We think that it made us both a little lazy and bratty, without realizing the value of money and budgeting.

So I do not think that you can generalize about an entire class of people, because plenty of UMC people that I know have working teens, even if it's just scooping ice cream in the summer.

Also, I think it gives kids confidence to do a job, even if it's just lifeguarding etc.

I don't disagree with what you said but why ice cream scooping for $10-15/hour versus Computer gigs for $45/hour?  The goal is to work smart, not harder for the same amount of money, right?

[Anonymous]

I always have good memories when I see teens at summer jobs. I was a townie kid in a summer tourist destination. All teens worked and we had a blast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My UMC kids work various jobs. We match their earnings and contribute to their Roth IRAs. Amazing what $20K in Roth IRA at eighteen can do for 50+ years invested in index funds, with the expectation that they will eventually max out their Roth IRAs annually.

My UMC kids worked in their HS junior and senior years for a FinTech company and got paid $50/hour in 2020.  The oldest will start at UVA in about two weeks and he is still working for the same firm, remotely. 

Let me guess, they worked in the same FinTech company owned by their parents? It’s always amusing to learn about HS interns making more money per hour than graduates with actual B.S. degrees from ABET accredited colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My UMC kids work various jobs. We match their earnings and contribute to their Roth IRAs. Amazing what $20K in Roth IRA at eighteen can do for 50+ years invested in index funds, with the expectation that they will eventually max out their Roth IRAs annually.

My UMC kids worked in their HS junior and senior years for a FinTech company and got paid $50/hour in 2020.  The oldest will start at UVA in about two weeks and he is still working for the same firm, remotely. 

Let me guess, they worked in the same FinTech company owned by their parents? It’s always amusing to learn about HS interns making more money per hour than graduates with actual B.S. degrees from ABET accredited colleges.

+1 Only on DCUM where posters are so ignorant they don’t even know how nonsensical they come across.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The notion that kids need to work is a very middle class idea. MC parents think that low-wage, unskilled work is the only way a kid can “learn the value of a dollar.” They also associate physical work with “real work.” UMC people have every expectation that their kid will never perform such a job, so they focus on providing their kid experiences, further education/tutoring, and social skills.

Ok but for all families except maybe the 1%-ers, the kids will need to work one day. It won't necessary be at a low-wage, unskilled job but the kids will need to earn money. Professional jobs still have basic requirements: answering to a boss, showing up every day, working during expected times of the day, etc. It's painfully obvious which 20-somethings never held any kind of job before graduating from college or grad school.

+1
Plus, there's some value in doing an "unskilled" job (in quotes, because many of these jobs do require useful skills) and learning that such jobs aren't "beneath you."

We are solid UMC, but no longer in DC. Last summer our 16 year old son worked at a fruit packing plant. He earned $14 an hour which was good money. He did not like the job and chose not to return there this summer. But what he gained working there was invaluable. His coworkers were mostly 40-60 year old women. These women had to work hard on their feet for 1o hour shifts. He came home and told us that most of them had a second job as well. Last summer he learned the difference between him working for spending money and his coworkers working to pay the bills for a family. It was eye opening for him and has helped motivate him to plan for his future and work harder in school.