Amid a tightened labor market, and new legislation, US teenagers are seeing their summer employment options grow, as their potential wages rise, according to a new AP report which cites government and industry data.
Citing recent data from the Labor Department, the report notes that the US currently has among the tightest job markets since World War II. Unemployment is the lowest it has been in 54 years, at just 3.4%. According to the data, there are about 1.6 jobs presently open for every person who is unemployed, a ratio that historically has sat at 1:1. The AP notes that the trend has been felt particularly strongly in industries which normally seek to employ teens to fill empty job openings in the summer months.
Cory Hutchinson, general manager at Funtown Splashtown USA, an amusement park in the south of Maine said, “We literally do not have enough people to staff the place seven days a week and into the evenings.” Mike Morrison, owner of RideAway Adventures on Cape Cod noted that he is prepared to increase the salaries he pays by 50 cents per hour, in an effort to attract and keep teen employees through the end of the summer.
Meanwhile, restaurants, retailers, and amusement parks – industries which are more likely to employ teens over the summer months, have seen hourly pay increase by roughly 5% this April, compared to one year prior. Prior to the pandemic, the salaries for such positions normally would not grow by more than 3% per year.
Experts say the shortages in seasonal workers in many sectors which require extra staffing can be traced back to lingering effects from the pandemic. Normally, many businesses like restaurants, hotels, or others catering to tourists would rely on immigrant labor to fill out its staffing over the summer months. However after the pandemic began, immigration fell due to government restrictions such as Title 42. As one example, there were 285,000 summer visas issued by the US government, compared to a norm of 350,000 prior to the pandemic.
As a result of the tightened labor market, and its effects on the businesses which cannot find enough workers, lawmakers in ten states have begun a push to loosen child labor laws, to facilitate allowing teens to take on these jobs in industries which cannot find enough workers. As an example, Wisconsin lawmakers are advancing a bill which would allow 14 year-olds to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants. Meanwhile the Governor of Iowa signed a bill last week which will permit 16- and 17-year-olds to work longer hours and serve alcohol in restaurants. Last year New Jersey increased the number of hours 16- and 17-year-olds are allowed to work in a week, from 40 to 50.
The AP also noted that in April, according to data from the government, almost 34% of 16- to 19-year-old US citizens had jobs, compared to just 30% during the last summer prior to the pandemic, four years ago.
