Is minimum wage too low for teens?

For a teens living at home who doesn't have to pay rent/mortgage light, heat, property taxes, etc, I guess the minimum wage might be acceptable pocket money. I don't know what the minimum wage is where you are, but in my country (UK) the legal minimum wage is (hourly) (converted to US dollars)

under 18 $5.56
18-20 $7.62
21-24 $9.63
over 25 $10.35

It is $9 per hour - doesn't matter the age.

This is for purely unskilled labor - basically handing out golf putters for miniature golf and similar such highly stressful and taxing type jobs.

I'm with you Linkat.

Working jobs when you're a teen is to get pocket money, and to create some good and horrible memories for the future.

This is material for stories for years to come to entertain friends and family. It's gold.

There are adults who are trying to get by of this.

Seriously, I would say to her "so you don't want to make money for handing out golf putters? So stay home this summer and keep the house clean for nothing."

I'm thinking this is her group of peers talking.

If they hadn't gotten together and decided this was beneath them, they'd all be individually thrilled at the prospect of $9/hr.

Handing out golf putters and such is $9 an hour work.

Hell, if I had 2 hours a day to spare, I'd sit there and do it, and be glad for the 16 bucks after tax in my pocket.

Not like I need it, it just sounds like found money.

When I was 16, in the summer vacation I got a job with a London cleaning agency. It was mainly vacuuming & dusting tourist apartments, quite dull, but one day I got sent to an elderly Jewish lady who looked at me doubtfully and asked if I knew how to clean silver. I said I didn't, and she said "Come!" and sat with me at her kitchen table and proceeded to teach me. The next week the agency said she had asked for the "nice boy" to come again. I went to her every Monday morning for 6 weeks, and we cleaned all her silver together. She told me lots of stories about pre-war Austria, and how her family left before the Anschluss. She always fed me. (I learned to like bagels). She said now her husband was dead she could eat ham without anybody moaning at her. I used to pick up ham and salami for her at a deli on the way to her house. A curious thing - a couple of years later I started going out with a girl and I told her about the old lady, and she said "That was my aunt". It turned out to be true. Considering they lived on opposite sides of London that was some coincidence. The wages were not high, but I saved enough to get a second hand 50cc Suzuki motorcycle. My father said as I had worked to get it he would pay for a year's insurance.

Isn't there something she could/should be saving for?

Pay for her own clothes/her share of auto insurance (if she drives)? her rent if she's planning to live away from home for college / university? mobile/phone costs? travel plans with friends?

Kind of hard to have incentive to work if there's no need for money.

I guess I'm not nice enough. I think that by the time they're 14/15 they should be paying some of their own bills - and saving for the future.

I know that costs are higher now, but the money I earned in high school paid for most of my education/living costs at university + my first (6th hand) car when I graduated.

She should be grateful for the work. Many young people cannot find employment either during the school year or the summer.

Further, it's both a job experience which will look good in the future, for any possible employer and can be mentioned when writing essays for colleges.

Heck when I was a kid I got paid minimum wage. I earned and learned my way up the later to find better jobs with better pay. If she works hard she can get raises over time. Kids feel entitled these days. My daughter is 1 and she is looking for a summer job at a daycare and the minimum starting pay is $7.95 so slightly better than minimum wage. She would have been happy whatever the pay because it is a little extra money in her pocket.

Yeah I think it is --- my daughter was here and had gotten a text asking if she was available tomorrow morning for 5 hours to score keep for a basketball tournament. Her friend was here and she mentioned it to me -- the girl asked how much she got paid per game (which is basically per hour as the games run each hour). My daughter said $9 - the girl said I am not going do that.

What the heck - $9 and you sit and watch games and run a clock -- girls and adults do this for free in the town games.

Yes she is working for it - last year she did to pay for a plane ticket to go to her cousin's wedding. This year we are flying them out and she needs to save money if she wants to have any spending money while out there.

In addition, we have her save a portion in her savings account to help with college. She isn't putting up much of a fuss herself about it. I was just shocked when she told me that is why some of the kids say they don't like working there. I thought it might be that is was boring or something.

Yes - she is saving for some of that and I agree. Although I don't want to her have a job during the school year that she has to be at on a particular day or time each week -- She plays varsity basketball in winter and varsity softball in spring and with academics if she has a particularly tough week with tests or school work, I don't want the added work. So the tournament things is great because if she isn't available she doesn't have to work. For example, up until last week, she was taking an SAT online class every Sat and Sun afternoon add school work and softball - there is little time for work.

Now she has taken the SAT and completed her AP exam, her school workload has decreased given her some time to work more on the weekends. In the summer she should have more time - but she does have club softball where most weekends she has games and not sure which nights she will have practice.

Yeah that was my thought - I was shocked that some of the kids that minimum wage was not worth working for. The thing is they can go to Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds and make a dollar more an hour - the problem with that is - it is likely that they will not be as flexible with hours.

Yeah, I was a saver too.

I would spend some of course, but I've never had the need to just go with the crowd and buy something because everyone else was.

I do remember getting my check and putting most of it immediately aside/in the bank, and keeping out enough for probably an ice cream cone and a slice of pizza most days, and a movie with friends probably once a week.
I probably put 70% to 75% in savings, and just freely enjoyed getting treats like that. I mean, what else did I need.

Then again, I always worked part time during college, so I always had cash.

Heh. I remember in college for about a year and a half working at the Boca Raton Hotel in the nurses office on weekends. I basically answered the odd call and handed out band aides to employees that cut themselves. Spent the bulk of the time studying or reading for enjoyment.
During the week I had this other job, maybe 2 or 3 hours at a time, I think twice or 3 times a week. It was for an attorney who worked out of his home part time. His main job was teaching. I just took care of correspondence and stuff. His wife would always make me lunch when I was there, even though I protested. They were Cuban and it's a law they have to feed you.

When I graduated, I had plenty of money to put down first last and security, etc.


Edit: Then again I didn't below to a sports team or anything, so the time equaled out, what with her practice and all.

Heh, I worked after school and weekends from the day I turned sixteen. I earned $1.05 an hour for those first paychecks taking minifilm xrays of incoming or outgoing patients, yes, wearing a lead shield. This was at a major hospital at the time. I developed the film in the evenings and also took dictation from the radiologist. In my spare time waiting for patients, made my own little medical dictionary.

My family had big financial troubles after I was about twelve. We needed me to work, when I got to legal age. I liked it.

I volunteered, ran a bunch of stuff at the school and worked. I know I seemed over-scheduled to some people but I really really really liked to be busy. My mother used to complain that I was only home to sleep. I had one regular babysitting gig that ran from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon. Dropped the kids off at school, went to school myself, picked up kids, walked them to their sports after school, did my homework at their house after I put the kids to bed. I subcontracted to another teen when I had my volunteer work. I was paid a fair bit for that - made more per hour than some adults I knew at their full-time jobs. That mom was willing to pay serious money to have someone else toilet train her kids while she went to squash tournaments.

Something I just thought of. I'm sure this would be over the head of your daughter or her friends at this point. Although, maybe not....

The extra dollar an hour at MC (with less flexibilty)?

Let's say both kids end up working 10 hours a week (for arguments sake)

It takes the one kid an extra week to find a job that will pay that extra dollar an hour.

The one who took the $9/hr job is $90 ahead out the gate.
It's going to take that 2nd kid 9 weeks to catch up and by then either summers over or they are complaining they have to work when they don't want to.

Oh, and don't forget the prestige of wearing a fast food uniform and breathing deep fried food all day.

Kids. (smh)

Yeah, I think there's probably less kids that are saying they won't work for that $9. Little Miss "Ew I Wouldn't Work For That" can safely be ignored.

Same here ehBeth.

I don't remember ever feeling overwhelmed or anything. It was just what you did.
I had a social life as well, and I don't remember there being conflicts.

Yeah we point out the flexibility thing to her --- it is more important to her. And it gives her some free time as well - since during the school year she is so busy.