Why Aren’t American Teenagers Working Anymore? - Bloomberg:
The last reason is the most interesting - they aren't working because they are studying.
"Why aren't teens working? Lots of theories have been offered: They're being crowded out of the workforce by older Americans, now working past 65 at the highest rates in more than 50 years. Immigrants are competing with teens for jobs; a 2012 study found that less educated immigrants affected employment for U.S. native-born teenagers far more than for native-born adults. Parents are pushing kids to volunteer and sign up for extracurricular activities instead of working, to impress college admission counselors. College-bound teens aren't looking for work because the money doesn't go as far as it used to. "Teen earnings are low and pay little toward the costs of college," the BLS noted this year. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Elite private universities charge tuition of more than $50,000.
Or maybe, as cranky old people have asserted for generations, teenagers are just getting lazy.
A recent BLS analysis offers another theory, backed up by solid data. It appears that millions of teenagers aren't working because they're studying instead."
