Young people are asking themselves: Will working a job help me grow up faster?

Two out of three teenagers in the United States work. They spend 16 to 20 hours a week working .

Why are more and more young people getting jobs? Sixteen-year-old Brian explains: “I have no other choice. My parents are divorced, and I have to help my mother in every way possible.” Many families need financial assistance. And even if a young person doesn't directly contribute to their upkeep, their parents have an easier time financially if they pay for their own clothes and other personal belongings.

While teenagers often spend their hard-earned money on expensive clothes, shoes, or hamburgers, some see their job primarily as a crucial opportunity to grow up faster. Nineteen-year-old Suzanne wrote in Seventeen magazine: “I earn money because I like being independent. That way, I’m not dependent on my parents to pay for everything. ... Parents can give you money, but they can’t give you the satisfying feeling you get when you earn it yourself.” Perhaps you think the same way—that a job will give you experience and help you grow up faster. But is that really the case?

The advantages of having a job

The Bible condemns laziness. But the soul of the industrious will be fattened.” So if you really need something that costs more than your parents are willing or able to pay for, the idea of ​​working hard so that you can buy it yourself is commendable.

Many also argue that a job helps a young person develop a more realistic view of life. Ellen Greenberger and Laurence Steinberg conducted extensive, widely published research on youth and jobs. They found that young people who work "learn about conducting business, handling money, and consumer arithmetic." A job gives a young person the opportunity to work alongside adults and also exposes them to adult pressures and responsibilities. They may have to learn to work under a boss who is "hard to please" or grumpy, or to deal kindly with irritable customers and coworkers ( 1 Peter 2:18 ). But I learned how to deal with people."

A young person who has a job can also develop useful skills and habits for their future working life, such as punctuality. (Compare Proverbs 22:29 .) “I learned to take responsibility,” says Erik, a young man. “Working for my uncle taught me to do quality work,” says Duane. “He was very particular about tidiness, and if something wasn’t perfect, we would redo it.” Olga, who did office work while still in school, explains: “I gained experience for the working world. And since I often had to make phone calls, I became accustomed to using polite language.”

A job can also give you a sense of accomplishment. The wise King Solomon said: “There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and see his soul enjoy the fruits of his labor.

How much do you really learn?

However, many believe that today's jobs do little to help young people mature faster. In the past, young people in the United States learned a trade or at least a range of useful skills. Today, however, young people often work in fast-food restaurants or other service establishments, where their job might be packing hamburgers into boxes or entering prices into the cash register. Many question the long-term value of such work. Greenberger and Steinberg lament: "The average adolescent spends less than 10 percent of their working time—only about five minutes an hour—on activities such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. ... Most jobs are characterized by little variety, routine work, and the constant repetition of rather uninteresting tasks."

An article in the Wall Street Journal reports: “Many teenagers rarely learn anything useful through work beyond simply showing up.”Technology has almost turned them into robots. Barcode scanners and sophisticated cash registers add up the amounts and display the change. In fast-food chains, ovens with automatic timers deprive teenagers of any chance to pick up even a vague idea of ​​cooking. Such jobs are undoubtedly necessary and valuable services. But they will hardly contribute to preparing a young person for working life.

But what about working alongside adults? Greenberger and Steinberg write: “Jobs for young people are increasingly segregated by age group. Instead of working side-by-side with adults, ... today’s young people are more likely to work with other young people.” The Wall Street Journal has referred to such jobs as “youth ghettos.”

"Premature prosperity"

Many teenagers in the United States earn over $200 a month through part-time jobs. Isn't managing that money a valuable experience? Consider the findings of a survey of part-time workers at over a thousand different schools. It turned out that three-quarters of them contributed nothing to their families' livelihoods. Nearly 60 percent put nothing aside for savings. Free from the burden of rent, insurance, and groceries, most use their earnings as spending money.

Jerald G. Bachman of the Institute for Social Research speaks of "premature wealth" when "teenagers have a considerable amount of money." Why? Bachman explains: "Many students have money for luxury goods that they may no longer be able to afford five years later, namely when they have to pay for food and rent with their earnings." When a young person has too much money, they don't necessarily learn to handle it responsibly, but rather the exact opposite. This can foster an unrealistic preference for luxury goods, making the transition to the real adult world even more traumatic.

The Bible also shows that the laborious pursuit of wealth is futile. It says: “Do not labor to gain wealth. . . Have you set your eyes on it, when it is nothing? For surely it will make wings like an eagle’s and fly out into the heavens” ( Proverbs 23:4, 5 ).

Whether a job proves to be a valuable, educational experience depends on the type of work, the people you work with and for whom you are employed, and your own commitment. Your motivations and how you handle your earned money are also crucial in determining whether the job benefits or harms you.

However, if your main interest is in becoming an adult, consider the conclusion reached by Greenberger and Steinberg. They say that there are activities more beneficial than working. These include reading and studying outside of school and learning to take responsibility for the common good through unpaid volunteer work. Nina, for example, performs an extremely valuable service to the community as a full-time preacher for Jehovah’s Witnesses while attending school. She relates: “I worked out a schedule with my school counselor that allows me to be home around lunchtime. From Monday to Wednesday, I am involved in the public preaching work. I enjoy it very much. It gives me tremendous pleasure!” Would your personal circumstances and schedule allow you to do the same? Developing “devotion to God” in this way would undoubtedly be far more beneficial than working a job ( 1 Timothy 4:8 ).