A study found that students who take up summer or evening jobs find better employment in the future and have better earnings as adults.
Summer jobs are more beneficial than a way to earn some extra pocket money. A new study by researchers from UBC Sauder School of Business found that teenagers who take up evening or summer jobs get early knowledge of how the business world works and learn tactics to manage it. This gives them a competitive advantage over their peers. Such students are also more likely to find good employment and earn more money in the future.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from the Statistics Canada Youth in Transition Survey. This represented 246,661 15-year-old Canadian teenagers, and their work history over a 10-year period beginning at age 15 and ending at 25 in 2009.
"With summer in full swing and kids sitting on the couch, parents are wondering whether to push them to find a job," said Professor Marc-David L. Seidel, who co-authored the study, in a press statement. "Parents may think that their kids could do better than a job at the local fast food joint. But our study shows even flipping burgers has value - particularly if it leads to part-time work later during school term."
One reason for this could be that early exposure to the working world gives teenagers the opportunity to hone their skills and work toward a better suited career. It also polishes their soft skills and helps them acquire references. It also gives them a heads up on how to job-hunt more successfully, establishing wider career networks.
"Adolescent labor has been stigmatized as exploitative with many parents opting to put their kids in summer camp rather than summer jobs," said Seidel. "However, our research shows that working can offer educational and developmental opportunities that prepare adolescents for the real world."
The study titled "Beneficial "Child labor": The impact of adolescent work on future professional outcomes" was published online in the journal Research in the Sociology of Work.
