Young People and Work

In our society, there is an increasing attention on achieving a balance between work and other aspects of life, so it is of interest to look at young people’s experiences and expectations of work. In 2004, almost half of Queensland ’s secondary school students were in part-time employment (1). This article will examine the benefits and pitfalls of combining part-time work with high school study as well as the role of homework.

Advantages of participating in part-time work

Participating in part-time work provides students with a number of benefits. While many will work in a field they do not intend to stay in the long term (eg. fast-food industry, retail), they gain many skills that will be of use when seeking and adjusting to full-time employment. Having held down a part-time job for a reasonable period of time suggests to a prospective employer that the person is reliable and stable. Similarly, there would be few jobs advertised today that do not list ‘ability to work as part of a team’ as one of the criteria. By its very nature, part-time employment often involves working with other part-time workers. Working part-time can also help young people develop self confidence and a feeling of independence. Being financially self-sufficient (to some degree) allows young people to develop independence from their parent/s in other ways. For example, having the money to buy their own clothes means they are able to use them as a way of expressing their own personality.

Part-time work can also broaden the range of people a young person is in contact with. Doing shifts at a fast food restaurant, for example, will no doubt involve working with people from different socio-economic status and with different life circumstances. Developing social networks through work as well as school is also beneficial as it means a person is less reliant on one group of friends.

The summary of findings from the Queensland Review of Child Labour also cites “escape from boredom or a bad home environment” as a further positive benefit of young people participating in employment (2). The summary explains that work can provide a young person with links to supportive adults, which they may be missing in their home environment.

The Children at Work study, conducted by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People surveyed 11 000 school students aged 12-16 about their working habits. It found that the students were “generally very satisfied with the work they do” and “value highly the opportunity to develop new skills, exercise more responsibility and self-reliance, earn money and make a contribution” (3). Work satisfaction depended on four aspects, recognition, support, control and income.

Some of the student’s responses on what they liked about working included:

“Being able to buy things I need and want. And also stuff like presents for family and friends, and not having to ask your parents to pay for it” (4)

“Gives me a sense of responsibility and makes me feel more grown up” (5)

“I can meet new people and not just have friends in school but also out of school and it builds my social life. It’s fun” (6).

The report proposes that high levels of satisfaction may be due to the fact that the benefits young people obtain from work are significant in the context of their general status in society. Conversely, this very fact can also lead to young people tolerating working conditions that are unsatisfactory (see ‘Problems’ section below).

Many parents also feel there are benefits in having their children work part-time. Common reasons include teaching them the value of money (‘money does not grow on trees’) and to manage finances. Parents often hope that if their child has to work 12 hours to buy their designer jeans they will 1) be less demanding about ‘needing’ items, 2) realise they cannot have everything and so must make choices/compromises, and 3) take better care of their belongings. Parents also value the role part-time work can play in contributing to their child’s independence, self-confidence, maturity, social skills and future employment prospects.

Problems with part-time work

While part-time work provides many benefits for young people it can also present difficulties. Working too many hours, for example, can impact on a young person’s education, leisure and family time. In a survey conducted by the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) of 324 workers under 18 years, 60.6% of respondents listed ‘having difficulty combining work and study’ as one of the three most important issues (7).

Student surveys conducted as part of the Queensland Review of Child Labour found that 13.8% worked for more than 13 hours a week and 6.6% over 17 hours (8). Respondents to the Queensland Review of Child Labour discussion paper indicated that some students were in fact working the equivalent of a full time job. Even if the total hours worked is reasonable, when these hours take place can have an impact. The SDA survey reported that of the respondents that were school aged, 23% worked on weekdays after 9pm and 8.7% prior to 9am (9). Working long hours, late at night or early in the morning can leave students feeling tired and having difficulty concentrating during school hours. It can also significantly interfere with homework completion and adequate exam preparation.

As well as impacting on study, work can also affect a young person’s leisure activities and time with their family. Many sporting activities occur after school or on the weekend so work commitments can lead to reduced opportunities for participation. This can be an issue as regular exercise plays an important role in maintaining general health and wellbeing and can also reduce feelings of stress, a common complaint in young people. Frequently not being able to go to activities with peers can also present problems, with young people feeling they are being left out. Adding part-time work to the hours already spent outside the family home can result in little time being spent with the family. Not being present for family meals can also affect a young person’s diet as meals eaten outside the home are more likely to be higher in fat.

Young people’s participation in work can also pose more serious problems such as risks to their health and safety. Submission to the Queensland Review of Child Labour suggested that young people faced greater risks of harm at work and that this was due to “their maturity and development stage, less experience and training” (10). As many young people work in casual employment they are much less likely to have received training in the area of occupational health and safety.

Young people are also more vulnerable to exploitation, bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. These issues often go unreported as young people’s lack of experience in the workforce means they often have limited awareness of their rights and what is not acceptable practice. For example, over half of the working students surveyed by the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian reported they did not know their rights as an employee and 35% did not know if they belonged to a union (11). Even when young people are aware of their rights, however, they often lack the confidence to challenge their employer and/or are unwilling due to possible repercussions such as having their hours reduced.

New regulations for young workers

Following the Queensland Review of Child Labour, the Queensland Government will introduce a range of legislative changes to protect young workers. These will include:

• People under the age of 18 will be prohibited from particular forms of employment such as topless waitressing, topless modeling and other forms of adult entertainment.
  
• An offence to employ a child under the age of 18 in work which is likely to harm the child’s health, safety or wellbeing (details to be finalised during drafting).
  
• Limit young people’s hours of work during school terms so their education does not suffer.
  
• Clarification of employers’ obligations to child employees.
  
• A general minimum working age of 13, reduced to 11 for some forms of supervised employment such as deliveries and charitable collections.
  
• Code of practice to be developed for those children working in family business or entertainment (areas where the minimum age will not apply) (12).

References

1. Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian.
   Queensland Review of Child Labour: Summary of Findings, April 2005 Queensland Government; 10-11
   
2. Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. Ibid; 11
   
3. NSW Commission for Children and Young People. Children at Work Sydney : NSW Commission for Children and Young People 2005; 70
   
4. NSW Commission for Children and Young People. Ibid; 79
   
5. NSW Commission for Children and Young People. Ibid; 72
   
6. NSW Commission for Children and Young People. Ibid; 75
   
7. Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. Ibid; 13
   
8. Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. Ibid;14
   
9. Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. Ibid;14
   
10. Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. Ibid;16
    
11. Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. Ibid; 19
    
12. Queesland Government. “New Laws Will Give Child Workers Greater Protection” Media release 2 May 2005
    
13. Rindfleisch T & Alexander M. The war on homework: Critics push for assignments to be banned Sunday Mail 25 July 2004 ; 14
    
14. Queensland Government, Department of Education and the Arts.
    Homework Literature Review: Summary of Key Research Findings November 2004;3-5
    
15. Queensland Government, Department of Education and the Arts. Ibid; 3-4
    
16. Queensland Government, Department of Education and the Arts. Ibid; 4.

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For further information

The Office of Industrial Relations
http://www.dir.qld.gov.au/index.htm
Provides information on the rights and obligations for both employers and workers.

Young Workers Advisory Service (YWAS)
http://www.ywas.org/
A c onfidential and supportive free service to help young people in Queensland on all work-related matters. YWAS can advise young people on work conditions, workplace bullying, provide advice on employment contracts and assist with sexual harassment or discrimination claims.

This article was written by Kirsten Braun and reviewed by the Editorial Committee at Women's Health Queensland Wide for Health Journey, Vol III 2005.

Please note that this article is an archive. While every effort was made to ensure the information was accurate at the time of publication, the article has not been updated since this time. 

Last Modified: September 1, 2005