Our columnist has her say on teens and work, items left in Ubers and last names
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WORK-SHY TEENAGERS
Teenagers are shunning work to do nothing, but it seems we only have ourselves to blame
Are your kids lazier than you? Chances are if you’re in possession of offspring in their teens the answer is a resounding YES! Not because that age group have always had a passion for staying in bed as long as they can (they were probably doing that back in the days mum and dad were out hunting sabretooth tigers) but because, statistically, today’s teens are officially lazier than those that went before them.
At the turn of the century, 48% of teenagers had a part-time job while still at school yet, according to research by the Resolution Foundation, in 2020, fewer than 25% had ever done any paid work. Post-pandemic, it’s just 18% of teenagers.
Bet you can remember paper rounds, babysitting and Saturday jobs, can’t you? Most of us did something. As well as delivering the local newspaper, I was probably the world’s only 15-year-old punk Avon lady! (Thankfully, no pictures survive.) Also, worked on a market stall and, when I was old enough, as a barmaid.
The Bank of Mum and Dad (working-class branch) back then only accepted deposits and for that you had to get off your backside and go and do something. And it made you a much more rounded person, ready for adulthood.
Fast forward to today and suggest to a teen they get a job and they’ll look at you in horror. A mate of mine has been driven to despair by her 19-year-old son, who not only refuses to get a job or study, he barely bothers even going out.
And he’s not alone. There are now a million Neets (not in education, employment or training) and 34% of under-25s are ‘workless’ because of health issues.
Hmm. Really? All 34% of them? Too ill to do ANYTHING?
Obviously, the pandemic had a lot to do with turning youngsters’ lives upside down and it’s true mental health problems have increased enormously because of it. But most experts agree the real fault for today’s lazy teens lies with us, the older generations.
We’ve wrapped them up in so much cotton wool that they’ve become the entitled generation.
So what do you do if your older teen refuses to get off the sofa?
Child and adolescent psychiatrist Sabina Dosani has a very simple solution: ‘Don’t hand over your cash if you’ve got children old enough to have a part-time job,’ s
