Story at a glance:
- Employers at low-skilled establishments want to hire young candidates between the ages of 16 and 19, and in some cases even younger.
- There was a surge in teenage employment throughout the summer time.
- The unemployment rate between 16 and 19 year olds is lower than 20 and 24 year olds.
To combat the labor shortage, employers at low-skilled establishments want to hire young candidates between the ages of 16 and 19, and in some cases even younger.
As Changing America previously reported, many eateries are understaffed due to a work shortage.
Republicans have tended to blame government assistance through the CARES ACT for decreasing the incentive to work, while Democrats have tended to blame COVID-19 concerns, low wages and lack of child care for the shortage.
While adult workers, particularly in the fast-food business, are quitting their jobs and seeking better conditions, teenagers as young as middle schoolers with lower expectations are prime candidates, The Guardian reported.
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Throughout summer 2021, there was a surge in teenage employment, to more than 32 percent, the highest record of teen employment since 2008, NBC reported.
For the first time in the U.S., ages 16 to 19-year-olds have a lower unemployment rate than 20 to 24-year-olds, The Guardian reported.
Fox’s Pizza Den in Leechburg, Pa. hired a team of 14 and 15-year-olds to stay open for business.
“I wouldn’t be open without my teen employees,” owner Keith Fetterman told Pennsylvania Trib. “With the stimulus money and the weekly increase in unemployment (benefits), I found some older people didn’t want to work.”
Tim Thompson owns 76 franchised Wendy’s restaurants in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, and he started employing hundreds of 14-year-olds during the summer.
“It’s been a blessing. We’ve hired about 500 14- and 15-year-olds,” Thompson told the Trib. “They’re high-energy, hard-working and they show up because their parents drive them.”
Per the Fair Labor Standards Act, teens as young as 14 and 15 can work 3 hours per day on school days, 18 hours total in any given school week, and 8 hours per day on non-school days. They can not work more than 40 hours a week when school is out.
In Wisconsin, Republican state senators passed a bill that would expand working hours for minors, SB332, and it is making its way to the state assembly.
As of now, Wisconsin minors can work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Labor Day to May 31 and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day. However, the bill would permit new hours from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m on a school day and 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on nonschool days.
Some Democrats and opponents like Stephanie Bloomingdale, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, on the other hand, have expressed that the Wisconsin bill is a “slippery slope” in eliminating child labor laws that protect children from exploitation.
“The passage of this bill would be a slippery slope for eliminating child labor practices in Wisconsin and in the United States in general,” Bloomingdale told The Guardian. “Young teenagers need to have good work experiences that help them to learn work ethics and valuable skills, but at the same time, recognizing they also are kids that need time to study, to sleep and to prepare their minds for their future.”
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