Summer jobs for teens becoming less common

While it was probably common when you were a teen, the days of the summer job to make a little spending money are becoming a thing of the past for today’s teenagers.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just a generation ago, some 75 percent of teens had a summer job but now that number is down around 40 percent for 16-to-19-year-olds, the continuation of a decades-long trend.

The financial website NerdWallet says the reason behind the decline is due in part to the kind of jobs available for teens shrinking as older workers are taking fast food and retail store jobs amid the loss of low-skilled factory jobs.

Another factor is that more students are going to summer school, involved in extracurricular activities and volunteering.

However, the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas saying the number of teens who just don't want to work is steadily increasing, partly because some don't want to work in minimum-wage jobs.

That may be a short-sighted way of thinking however, as a recent Drexel University study found that job experience in high school boosts future income by 20 percent to 25 percent a decade later.