Is Alan Sugar right? Should parents send their children out to work at 13?

The best example you can give children is to have a good work ethic yourself. My DH and myself have hardly ever had a day off work ourselves and all 3 of our children hardly ever had a day off school. They are the same now at work and their own children are the same at attending school. We also never let them have everything handed to them on a plate, even if we could afford it. They all had jobs while still at school and all are now successful in their different careers.

I think Alan Sugar's premise is correct. Teenagers who want something expensive, but not necessary for their lives should be told that they should either save up for it or get a job and earn the money. My family circumstances made weekend work or paper rounds impractical but if I wanted extra money my mother would pay me to do extra chores at home, gardening, mending, ironing - and it had to be done properly.

DD got a paper round at 13, became a waitress at 16 and was very proud that when she graduated from Drama School she was the only one in her year not to immediately sign on, not because she had lots of acting work but because she already had one part-time job and she found others. It meant that when she decided to follow another career she had a cv that showed her flexibility and adaptability in working in a range of jobs, plus she had previous employers willing to giver her a reference.

My student GD has had paid work from the age of 13 when she started as a paper girl. She then worked in the paper shop and now is a fast food waitress. Her half brother, similarly, had paid work from13 and, as a recent graduate, does actually have a job. Surely a record of being willing and able to work must look good on a CV? My DS1 started his catering career as a kitchen porter while still at school - a broken leg nipped his career as a paper boy in the bud - and his brother cleaned the recreation centre attached to his school. By comparison, I was a spoilt brat!

He was 17 and doing AS levels - He is now 20, doing an NVQ in Public Service at a local college and still working at the duck farm.

Greatnan, I actually looked up the work regulations for school children, and they aren't allowed to start before 7.00 a.m.! You don't say whether your grandson is still at school, but I'm sure there was a case recently where a boy had to give up his paper round because he had to start at 6.00 a.m. to get it finished and be ready for school in time.

I know the rules are there to prevent exploitation, but surely there should be some leeway allowed if a child shows the initiative to go out and get a part-time job, only to be told he/she can't do it because it would mean starting too early/ending too late. (They can't work after 7.00 p.m. either).

I agree with you Greatnan and glammanana. When my children were 13, I handed over to them their school dinner money, child benefit and established pocket money, and suggested they start learning to budget their allowance to take account of lunch, entertainment and clothes. I was always prepared to step in and help out if they didn't get the hang of it, and would occasionally buy expensive items like shoes, coats, and of course school uniform.

They did quite a bit of ducking and diving - started making lunch boxes up for a start! I noticed I was giving more lifts in the car to save bus fares. Then, each of them supplemented their allowance in some way, asking if there were extra jobs they could do and offering to do things for neighbours, got paper rounds, younger brother started working with older brother attending computer fayres and got paid for Sunday mornings, one got a backroom job in the local Spar shop, putting stock away, another did shampooing in a local hairdressers. They managed very well, and their social lives didn't suffer, they were able to buy things they would have had to convince me about, and they learned about the value of money.

Mine have never been told to look for a job at 13 they choose to go and work a few hours for extra pocket monies,they all had an allowance from DH and I and they have never regretted their decisions.I think it made a great impact on their future careers the boys going on to military service and the experience that they already had held them in good stead for the leadership roles that they achieved in their chosen career.

I agree, glammanana, it is so useful to get something on your CV and to get used to the discipline of getting yourself off to work. Another grandson collects eggs at a duck farm and has to leave home at 6 a.m. to get there on his bike. He found the job himself and earns nearly £10 an hour because most people don't want to wade through duck droppings in a huge barn on a cold morning!

Greatnan. Too young at 13 to be told by their parents to go stacking shelves in supermarkets to earn money as suggested by Alan Sugar. You are rightly proud of your grandchildren and their achievements and I hope my grandchildren turn out just as well.

greatnan All of my DCs have had jobs since they where 13/14yrs of age,the two boys had paper rounds to start with,then going on to work in the paper shop on Sat/Sun they bought their own extra's that they wanted ie: latest football boots and games for their consules,we obviously bought their football boots but if they wanted to pay the difference for the latest trendiest styles they funded the difference.DD worked in the local hairdressers 3 nights after school and on Saturday,when she was 16 she collected glasses and plates at local restaurant,it never did them any harm and taught them the value of money and many many social skills,these are the skills that are missing when youngesters are leaving education without any work experience.

Too young for what, Lucyella, if they want to do it?
I think you might be a little optimistic in your view of what the majority of young people do with their spare time, or you live in a very privileged area. Having a part time job did not stop my grandchildren having a great social life and also volunteering. Still, nobody is suggesting that anybody has to get a part time job if they really don't want it.

Greatnan. My point is that I think 13 is too young. I also don't think most youngsters lie around all day playing electronic games, chatting on their iPhones or lying in bed certainly not those I come into contact with. They seem to be pretty much like we were wanting to experience different things, having a social life, growing up. They also seem to be interested in scouts, guides, DoE etc., voluntary work.

Lucyella, I don't think anyone has suggested forcing teenagers to work - in my experience they love the feeling of independence and earning their own money. We are not talking about shoving them up chimneys! What would most of them be doing in their spare time - playing electronic games/chatting on their iphones/lying in bed.....?
If their lives are filled with voluntary work, Duke of Edinburgh awards, Scouting/Guiding, playing sports, etc. they may be too busy to do a job, but the majority of young people have plenty of spare time and we know what the devil does with idle hands!
One of my granddaughters is taking a nursing degree but she has bought herself a little car with her earnings from the local supermarket. Her older brother was at Durham and paid his way by doing three jobs - salesman at the local Burtons (they offered to sponsor him if he would pledge to work for them), and bar work at the Rugby Club and the Union bar. Their 14-year old sister spends much of her spare time assisting at the local Riding for the Disabled stables - no pay but she gets to spend time with horses! I am quite sure none of them feels they have been forced to grow up too soon.

I don't think children should be sent out stacking shelves or doing anything else at the age of 13. Let them be children for a bit longer. My grandson has just started a paper round at the age of 14. He is really happy doing it and so pleased to be earning his own money. He has chosen to do this not been forced to do it. Up until now his middle class parents have bought him gadgets for birthdays and at Christmas but this has not stopped him wanting to earn some money for himself now. I am really proud of him.

My children had part-time jobs when they were 16 and at college. My son was good with money but my daughter was not, she did not really learn the value of money until she was in her twenties although they were brought up the same way.

I really think 13 is too young.

Both of my sons had morning paper rounds from 13 -18 years old. The eldest whilst at 6th form college worked as a holiday relief postman and the youngest worked part time in our local supermarket. Later they both worked in a local restaurant and as bar attendants. They used their earnings to finance their hobbies, holidays and social life whilst at college and later university.

They were both hard working and reliable and well liked by their employers who gave them excellent character references when they moved on. As well as learning that money doesn't grow on trees they learned many valueable skills and mixed with people from all walks of life.

Even if we had been extremely wealthy (no such luck) I would have still encouraged them to work.

I think you're right, goldengirl, they don't seem to take on schoolchildren so much these days - I suppose they have enough members of permanent staff willing to work weekends.

As they don't seem to be taught in school about money management, communication skills and things that are assets to getting permanent employment I think a Saturday job in mid teens - 15/16 - provides all sorts of skills that are useful for the future. It also provides a means of buying the odd treat with one's own money. Unfortunately these jobs are probably now few and far between for one reason or another.

I don't think children necessarily need to work before time if the parents can afford to, what they do need to know is that their parents (and grandparents) have/had to work hard to support the family and give them a comfortable life. They'll have plenty of time to work (if they are lucky enough to have a job) especially if the next generation will have to work at least till 70 before they can retire!

That's a good point, Maniac, it does broaden their social group and gives them a glimpse of the world beyond school and family.

My son helped(?)from age 5 to18 in the pharmacies where I worked. He didn't get paid until he was 16.
After A-levels he worked 6 mths full time in a supermarket to earn enough to go to Canada,buy.a motor bike.He rode across Canada camping en route,sold the bike and got back in time to start at Uni.(No fees at that time!)
My 2 DDs had Sat jobs at M&S and BHS as early as possible
until starting nursing/Uni.and in the hols.As well as pocket money I feel they learned social skills.

Hope you're much better now petallus

That post of mine, above (oh no!). Well, I had just been reading the thread about how badly behaved children are today compared with yesteryear and that depressed me somewhat, so I thought I'd try another thread and it was this one, just at the point where someone was saying children today had it all on a plate etc. I was feeling somewhat delicate this morning so I just said 'oh no!' and scarpered.

Sorry everyone, back to normal now!

Yes I had a Saturday job ...worked in Woolies. I wanted to go abroad with the school ...my parents couldn't afford it, so that was the only way. My day's pay was 15s ...it eventually went up to a £1. Then I worked for them through the holidays.

Also my parents couldn't afford to make up my grant when I went to college ...so again another Saturday job, plus work through the holidays! No gap years in my time!!

All my gs also did the same ...stacking shelves;working in a chippy; sales staff; cleaners; newspaper rounds; christmas post ...anything that gave them some independence and spending money...and they did similar things through university.

So I agree with AS

I got a paper round when I was 13 because I desperately wanted a record player! I got it on HP (father signed up for it) and paid it off at 2/11 a week.

My own daughter worked at weekends in a clothes shop from around the age of 15 because as a single mother I couldn't afford to buy her more than the basics. A lot of her friends also had weekend jobs, but I do remember one mother telling me that she'd had to work when young and didn't intend to "make" her daughter do the same.

Didn't I read somewhere that schoolchildren were being prevented from doing paper rounds by some EU working directive?

I knew I had them somewhere.
In a file of family documents from my late aunts' house I have two 'School Leaving Certificates'.(1913 &1919.)They were official documents required when a child left school at 13 to begin full time work,which most of my mother's generation did. I kept them as an interesting bit of social history.Most of my mother's 9 siblings lived to their 80s or 90s!