Why Give Kids Part- Time Jobs?
Part-Time jobs have been proven to increase a teen’s financial literacy, so it’s a good idea to encourage a job that will not interfere with education while still providing them with a means of earning money that is all their own. If your kid has solid grades and isn’t stretched with other activities, working at a local shop or business can bring on a work ethic that they can carry with them for life.
Encourage your child to find a position that will have them working 20 hours or less per week so that there is no interference with school. Help your teen manage their time and figure out what makes the most sense given their lifestyle and responsibilities.
Even if your teenager can’t handle part-time work during the school year due to a busy schedule of activities and schoolwork, encourage them to get a part-time job for the summer. Valuable lessons can be learned by working at the corner grocery store or at internship at a big corporate office. Show them that even menial or tedious tasks are an important part of starting a job at the bottom and that important things can be learned from those responsibilities. Perhaps scooping ice-cream isn’t the most glamorous job in the world, but if your child is alert, they can learn what it’s like to run a dessert shop and perhaps even own one someday.
Even if they earn an allowance from you, they should need to perform tasks before they are given any payments. This will help them learn that they need to earn their money, and once they earn it, they typically think twice about what they will spend it on after they see how much work it takes to acquire it. Ensure that your child understands the value of the work he’s doing and the money that she is bringing home.
A job can teach a teenager the value of responsibility, money and self-reliance. It helps a kid understand what it takes to provide for themselves when it comes to the material stuff that they may want. If your teen can juggle school and a social life relatively easily, there’s no reason that a job can’t add value to their lives.
Encourage kids to be industrious by helping them to set-up a lemonade stands or car wash, but take it a little further by telling them they must pay you for the supplies they use with their earnings. This is a great way to teach them the true value of work and the meaning of a business agreement. Also ensure that they understand the importance of saving and investing the profits that they earn from their small businesses.
Encourage older kids and teens to look for work and other means of generating income outside the home such as babysitting, dog walking, snow shoveling, and more. Kids get a great feeling of accomplishment by taking on a project or part-time job and making some extra cash.
Encourage a work ethic. Work ethic is a learned behavior, and parents are the best models to teach kids to acquire it. If you want your children to work hard and derive meaning and satisfaction from what they do, make sure you are modeling the right messages. Insisting your kids do their homework and help around the house does not guarantee they will grow up with a sense of accountability and a desire to achieve. Developing a work ethic in your child is a holistic process and the eight money behaviors of a financially intelligent parent are keys to this process.
Most importantly, don’t let them walk off a job just because they think it’s boring. Show them the importance of sticking to something even if it isn’t their life’s dream. Tell them to look for things within their job or the business that they can learn and will give them super skills. Have them talk to their supervisor about learning how to inventory, ordering supplies and bookkeeping works.
For example, a kid working in a grocery store can be shown how to keep track of ordering bags, figure out how many are needed to keep in stock at the store on a monthly basis, analyze if there is any savings to be made with bags from a different manufacturer, etc. This type of extra interest could certainly surprise a manager who is willing to give a kid a deeper insight into the business.
Support them and encourage entrepreneurial endeavors.
Below are some suggestions of jobs for kids;
Dog Walking – There are many pet owners that don’t have the time or energy to walk their dogs. Your child, if responsible enough, can take on a task like this. They can charge by the hour. They may even be allowed to take the dog to a dog park or even play with it in the pet owner’s backyard to help the dog get exercise. This could be great fun for the child in addition to helping your child make money.
Paper Route – Many children cut their teeth waking up before dawn to deliver papers prior to going to school. Young people performing this work learn many of the mechanics and hiccups concerning the flow of goods from the factory to the consumer. One learns to push through challenges such as poor weather and supply problems to get the job done.
Babysitting – One of the most common first jobs for many (but not exclusively) girls is babysitting. Babysitting teaches responsibility, preparation, patience and safety not to mention dealing with the highly emotional expectations of customers (parents). These skills are extremely valuable in all aspects of working life.
Collecting Deposits on Cans and Bottles – Your child can easily earn money from the deposit they can receive for bottles and cans. If your child were to scan the ditches around your home, they are sure to accumulate a number of cans and bottles that can be returned for cash. This not only increases your child’s money yield, but it is a good way to help clean up the environment as well.
Fruits and Vegetables – Why not help your kids plant a small vegetable patch so they can sell the produce? Or maybe your child could pick strawberries or apples and offer them to the neighbors for sale. You may also have your child plant small house plants in small planters that they can sell. A sunny spot and watering the plants twice a week is all the service the plants would need-a small effort on your child’s part.
Baking – At first, you may need to help your child with this one. If your child loves working in the kitchen, have them specialize in their own creation. The child can sell their baked items at bake sales, to neighbors, friends and family-possibly even to local bake shops. Be sure to add in the cost of the ingredients when setting the prices for the baked goods. Again, this teaches good accounting and business sense.
Collecting – There is a great deal of money to be made in collectibles, like stamps, coins, baseball or hockey cards, dolls, etc. Start your children collecting something. It can be great fun for them and enable them to make a profit later on in life. If they like to collect, let them enjoy part of their collection to play with, but put aside good pieces (like first day stamp cover issues, rookie baseball/hockey cards or prize coins) to become part of their savings plan for later.
Sell Ice Cream – Most places that sell ice cream/ice cream stands offer jobs for kids. It depends on the place, you can go to that particular ice cream parlor and ask the manager what is the minimum age limit, each manager may have different ideas in mind as to what makes a good employee.
Shovel Snow – This is a very simple way to make money for all kids, all you need is a good shovel.
Mow Lawns – If there are any little lawn businesses in your neighborhood, you can try approaching them and ask if they might need some more hired help. Small operations like that usually don’t care how old you are as long as you can put in good work.
Wash cars – Set up a car wash in your area. To make more money, you may contact your neighbors and ask them to let you wash their cars for a fee. This is an interesting way to earn money while enjoying the holidays.
Mending – Kids could mend their friends’ bikes and other toys for a fee. This may require them to make posters and hang them in various points within the neighborhood. It is necessary to indicate what you are good at repairing so that the interested neighbors know about it. Teenagers could have their friends bring over their spoilt toys to their garage for repairs and then have them collect it at an agreed time. This requires you to have a great sense of responsibility and maturity.
Assistant Cashier. If you have a business owned by your parents, a good job for a teen is to be an assistant to the head cashier. Just help the head casher count the money needed for change or the cash collected for the entire day. You just have to do simple math to work best at this. Most modern cash registers are easily error proof when it comes to being accurate in your money count.
Movie theater ticket taker. You can also ask movie theaters near you if they need people who will collect the tickets for the movie. This is so simple. You just have to get one ticket for every person who comes in. No sweat!
Affiliate marketing – Now days we can also teach our kids how to leverage the power of the internet and begin to market items on eBay or other sites. They can also market other products they find online with no out-of-pocket investment. This affiliate marketing gives them all the tools they need and the experience of starting their own business. One world of caution though – closely monitor their online activity but encourage them to start a business and take a financial literacy class.
Entrepreneurship – Finally, more industrious kids can actually try to create the whole endeavor. There are numerous ways kids can find ways to practice entrepreneurship. Typical new businesses consist of lemonade stands, lawn mowing services and snow shoveling services. There is no better way to learn a wide variety of skills quickly than by starting a business. Children learn sales, managing equipment, customer service, procurement and a host of other concepts. In addition, much like in adulthood, often the rewards of being a young entrepreneur are much greater than a young employee.
The above is only a sample of what a child can do to earn money. Any child’s hobby can be turned into a positive cash flow with a little creative thinking. By creating a ‘job’ for the child in their interest range, you can teach your child a very valuable life lesson while allowing them to enjoy themselves at the same time. Pride in their work becomes a great part of the equation, as well as enabling them to save extra money.
Talk to your kid continually about their work day and point out worthy lessons they may be missing. Make sure they get an appreciation for what it means to earn a paycheck and what it takes for people to make a living and pay the bills. It will undoubtedly give them more respect for what parents go through to provide for them.
Part-time jobs help teens acquire skills and build a resume that will come in handy when they begin their real careers. They will learn how to deal with others, handle customer issues, meet the expectations of their managers, be responsible for their personal actions and make sure that they do the job that’s required in order to get promoted. And, if your child plans to apply for college, a job will certainly be something to add to a college application particularly if it has a charitable aspect to it.
Little jobs can earn money for a child, but don’t let the money itself be the focus. Instead concentrate on helping them learn entrepreneurial and financial skills.