America's Worst (Teen) Jobs
I am working on a PPT presentation for an upcoming class about money. We’re going to talk about consumer spending (in more simple terms), discussing how American high school students spend money, especially compared to Japanese high school students.
I've had a surprisingly difficult time looking up statistics (any at all – forget recent), but I found some interesting information on the National Consumer League’s website that I thought I would share.
As I was surfing, I stumbled across the NCL’s list of the 5 worst jobs for American teens in 2006. I know it’s a tangent, but I clicked on the page, thinking it might be kind of interesting or at least funny. What I expected to find was something along the lines of ‘manure compost coordinator’ (I swear I’ve heard of similar posts from radio contests in the past; basically the grotesque), but I was astonished to discover the following list:
The Five Worst Teen Jobs
1. Agriculture: Fieldwork and Processing
2. Construction and Work in Heights
3. Outside Helper: Landscaping, Groundskeeping, and Lawn Service
4. Driver/Operator: Forkliefts, Tractors, and ATVs
5. Traveling Youth Crews
The site defined teens as those less than 20 years old, so you may also find it surprising that these often well-paid, good old American jobs ended up on the list.* Under ‘Traveling Youth Crews’, for example, they list door-to-door salesmen. I mean, I know you can make a lot of money... but when they listed accounts of people being held up at gunpoint (and other crazy run-ins), I guess it made a lot of sense that maybe you wouldn’t want your kid on that payroll.
I need to get back to finding those actual stats, but if you are bored and want something to look at, here is the website: http://www.nclnet.org/labor/childlabor/jobreport.htm. I might use this for a different class later on; I have a feeling the ‘least desired job’ category looks a little different in Japan!
*I should note, however, that there is a focus on safety here (they were not just looking for the most ‘disgusting’ options)
I've had a surprisingly difficult time looking up statistics (any at all – forget recent), but I found some interesting information on the National Consumer League’s website that I thought I would share.
As I was surfing, I stumbled across the NCL’s list of the 5 worst jobs for American teens in 2006. I know it’s a tangent, but I clicked on the page, thinking it might be kind of interesting or at least funny. What I expected to find was something along the lines of ‘manure compost coordinator’ (I swear I’ve heard of similar posts from radio contests in the past; basically the grotesque), but I was astonished to discover the following list:
The Five Worst Teen Jobs
1. Agriculture: Fieldwork and Processing
2. Construction and Work in Heights
3. Outside Helper: Landscaping, Groundskeeping, and Lawn Service
4. Driver/Operator: Forkliefts, Tractors, and ATVs
5. Traveling Youth Crews
The site defined teens as those less than 20 years old, so you may also find it surprising that these often well-paid, good old American jobs ended up on the list.* Under ‘Traveling Youth Crews’, for example, they list door-to-door salesmen. I mean, I know you can make a lot of money... but when they listed accounts of people being held up at gunpoint (and other crazy run-ins), I guess it made a lot of sense that maybe you wouldn’t want your kid on that payroll.
I need to get back to finding those actual stats, but if you are bored and want something to look at, here is the website: http://www.nclnet.org/labor/childlabor/jobreport.htm. I might use this for a different class later on; I have a feeling the ‘least desired job’ category looks a little different in Japan!
*I should note, however, that there is a focus on safety here (they were not just looking for the most ‘disgusting’ options)
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 3:36 PM
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