I got up this morning mowed /edged my grass raked my lawn and bagged it . Enough for today beer time . My neighbor boy came in I started talking to him . He is going to college 20 years old and has never had a job . I joked with him since he is home he could mow his parents lawn . He laughed and said the lawn men come every Thursday. What happened with kids working I had a paper route when I was 14 . My parents had two words when I asked for money ( were broke ) it worked I worked. These kids ( some of them ) have it made !
I see kids driving better cars then I have ever had , where do the parents get the money to give the kids or are they mortgaging their retirement ?
When I was 7 or 8 I was collecting coke bottles for the deposit. There's no deposit refund anymore, and in many places if kids that young were wandering around they'd end up in foster care and their parents would be in jail.
At 11 I got a paper route, had to start work at 5 am so it was all finished before school started. By the time I was in my 20s adults had taken all the routes and delivered by car. Kids were out of luck. Plus, see above re kids on bikes in the dark and jail.
When I was 12 I worked weekends on a farm (after the papers were delivered) for $5/day. Today that would be considered child labor and someone would be in jail, probably the farmer and the parents.
As a young teen I mowed grass, shoveled snow, and raked leaves. Nowadays those are jobs that adults fill, and even if kids tried to do them they'd need licenses and certifications.
At 15 I started at McDonalds, then went through various food service, construction, and retail sales jobs. I guess kids could do that now, but by the time they are in their late teens and haven't ever developed (or needed) to earn money, they see no reason to.
I know many people think kids are snowflakes now, and I don't totally disagree. And there's so much emphasis on school and grades and getting into college these days that many parents would never consider letting their kids work. Plus kids don't have the freedom of movement that we did, and most of them are in regulated activities after school. But I think the bigger reason is over-regulation that has totally locked them out of developing a work ethic. You can read about kids' lemonade stands being shut down by gov't officials every summer. I'm sure it's a combination of being spoiled and gov't interference, but I really can't blame the kids that much for it.
