Teen Summer Employment Stalls at 35.5%, Down From 58% 1978 Peak
Updated
Updated · USA TODAY · Sep 15
Teen Summer Employment Stalls at 35.5%, Down From 58% 1978 Peak
2 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Sep 15
Summary
Only about a third of U.S. teenagers worked summer jobs, with the rate at 35.5% despite a slight uptick in the past year.
Pew data show teen employment remains far below the 58% peak in 1978 and only modestly above the sub-30% trough reached during the Great Recession.
Entry-level openings have grown scarcer, especially for seasonal workers, while wealthier students increasingly spend summers on unpaid internships and other college-focused activities.
Service jobs that traditionally employ teens also face pressure from self-checkout and other automation, and the small-business sector has not fully recovered from pandemic-era closures.
The drop leaves fewer teenagers gaining early work experience, income and the independence that summer jobs have long provided before adulthood.