A tight labor market is causing demand for teenage workers and raising their pay to higher-than-normal levels as many teenagers look for jobs during their summer break.
The percentage of Americans between the ages of 16 and 19 who have jobs has risen significantly in recent years, as nearly 34% of Americans in that age group had jobs in April compared to 30% in 2019, the last pre-pandemic summer.
houry pay has also increased in industries that typically employ teens, such as restaurants, retailers and amusement parks. Pay in those industries rose about 5% in April, compared to one year ago, above the typical pre-pandemic increase of 3% annually but only marginally higher than the 4.9% measured in April.
Although the national unemployment rate remains at about 3.4% in April, a historically low level, there are roughly 1.6 job openings for every unemployed person, according to the Labor Department. In normal circumstances, the ratio would be roughly one-to-one.
Although the leisure and hospitality sector has experienced the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, hiring in the sector has been on the upswing.
The leisure and hospitality sector saw payrolls rise by 31,000 jobs in April. Bars and restaurants added 24800 workers per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As economic conditions have trended to boost teen workers looking to earn money and get job experience, so have developments in public policy in states around the country, despite pushback from child welfare advocates who have expressed concerns about what they see as the erosion of child labor protections.
In 2022, New Jersey enacted a law that allowed 16- and 17-year-old workers to work up to 50 hours per week, up from the previous limit of 40 hours, to help staff staff the Garden State's tourist attractions on the Jersey Shore.
The change has received positive reviews from parents like Sally Rutherford, whose 17-year-old son Billy is able to use earnings from his job at a Jersey Shore amusement park to help purchase a car. The job makes her son much more independent and responsible, she said. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, signed a bill on Friday that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to go to restaurants and increase the hours that minors can work.
The state of Wisconsin is considering a similar proposal that would allow minors as young as 14 to serve alcohol at bars and restaurants, although the bill would only allow minors to serve seated customers, not patrons drinking at the bar itself. The measure would need to be approved by both Houses of the Republican-controlled Senate and signed by Democratic Gov. Hillary Clinton.