As students finish up the 2020-2021 school year, teenagers in high school and college who work part-time jobs year-round have suddenly realized they have a lot more time on their hands when they don’t take summer classes. For a lot of people, this means changing one’s availability and taking on more overall hours. Carly Garis, a cashier at Giant, told us that she’s someone deciding to take this route in order to stay productive and utilize the extra free time. As she puts it, “more hours equals more pay and more money to do fun things during summer.” Last summer, the first we’ve had during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people around the world were left without jobs as the businesses they were working for needed to close, however. This year there are more opportunities available again, but it seems that still, the pressing public health matter will affect employment rates. 

Teens represent a small portion of the labor force. In fact, in July of 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that teenagers aged 16 to 19 make up 4.5 percent of all workers. Still, their role is important for many businesses that hire teens in a majority and rely on their participation. This could include jobs involving food preparation and serving, or sales and related occupations, as the BLS also concluded that these are the occupations where employees 16-19 years old are concentrated. These jobs have also been amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic. We often tend to focus more on the adults who are losing jobs in comparison, but teenagers also play an important part in the workforce. A recent study conducted by Drexel University’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy has modeled that the summer employment rate for teens could be lacking at a 10 percent difference compared to the estimated rate, excluding the pandemic. 

Further data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics evidence the negative impact that the presence of the coronavirus had on summer employment as well. In June beforehand, the rate for teenagers was six percentage points higher than it measured in June 2020 when it landed at 24.8 percent. This summer, it is estimated that employment for teens will reach 32.8 percent without any lockdowns resulting from the virus, according to Drexel’s model. Attempting to predict what will happen given the current situation, however, has led to the belief that the employment rate could be at 22.8 percent. This percentage would surpass previous historic lows in summer teen employment, first met during the Great Recession when this measured at 28.5 percent. 

It’s hard to pinpoint which factor has been the main cause for such a low rate, but the struggle to find employment has definitely played a part. Many search without being certain they’ll find anything, but there’s also now safety to consider in job choice. In many positions, you can only be so far from others, and in examples such as dining establishments where a server comes to the table, workers may have to consistently face customers without masks. While many businesses have, some establishments give workers no option for insisting people wear a mask and turning refusers away, so you can often become stuck in an uncomfortable situation quickly. In an interview with Lily Lawless, an employee at Lisa’s Pizzeria, she described the summer as way busier in addition, “opposed to in the winter where it’s the slow season.” A business’s period of heightened activity results from what it caters to, however, people will often tend to have more time on their hands during the summer, so for most jobs, a teen could also expect more interaction with people. 

A national text-message survey, performed by the University of Michigan, observed 76 percent of 911 teens and adults expressed a willingness to get vaccinated. We can assume that the number of teens employed this summer will increase from the last, given how many establishments are reopened at this point. The data which resulted gave assurance that most youths

are willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine as long as they feel it’s safe and effective. Given this, we should hope that teenagers are feeling safer and finding more opportunities for work in the summer of 2021.