Pocket Money

I worked as a waitress in a local hotel when I was 14. I felt incredibly grown up but looking back I was really well looked after there. The chef knew my dad and fed me excellent meals constantly! Then I worked in a supermarket until I left for university. It was also really good and nurturing. The women were kind and generous to Saturday girls. At university I worked in a local library as a summer job and I liked that too. I used the money instead of asking my parents and they weren't necessary but I was definitely encouraged to work by my parents.

Regarding your GD - as she's only 16 it will be difficult for her to find a part-time job.

What jobs does your DD think she can realistically apply for?

My parents would have been horrified if I had thought there was time to do an outside job when I was at school. Academic work, and extras like music, were full time. The same applied at university, though I did know some people with jobs then. I could survive without extra money, and didn’t expect more. So no jobs for me, just a great deal of academic work, and quite a lot of unpaid singing.

When my son was at Cambridge in the early 1990s, his college did not allow undergraduates to have outside jobs during term. They could in the vacations, and my son did. He always felt broke among students who were mostly better off than he was,

I did babysitting at her age. Easy money - didn't really seem like work!

Riverwalk

Regarding your GD - as she's only 16 it will be difficult for her to find a part-time job.

What jobs does your DD think she can realistically apply for?

You can work from the age of 16 as that school leaving age.

www.studentjob.co.uk/ages/jobs-16-year-olds.

I worked in a greengrocer’s shop on Saturdays, must have started there when I was about 14/15.

My own daughter worked at a local mushroom farm at 13, then she worked weekends in a nursing home when she was 16. Also did babysitting.

DS had a paper round at 13, then a Saturday job at the Co Op when he was 16.

Our GS trained as a football referee, and referees at mainly the under 10’s/under12’s matches at weekends, he is 16.

I agree that apart from paper rounds, there is not much in the way of part time jobs for youngsters nowadays.

A shame, as I think they can learn so much from having a part time job, teamwork, punctuality, relating to colleagues and customers, earning your own money....

Worked in a firework factory, Christmas post, three times, Kodak printing factory twice, office work four times All to supplement my grant. I think we all did it then. The area I worked in at Kodak was all students, we had a lovely time .

Grandma70s
Already, I'm thinking how extremely lucky some students are to have parents who can fund everything for them whilst studying. I'm not thinking of extra money but money for food, clothes and items needed for studies.

I couldn't help my two children at all throughout their studies. My daughter did a degree and son a B.Tech. My daughter took a part time job and both did make use of the loans which they paid back. She worked at the local restaurant during the vacations when she came home. I took nothing from her whilst she was at home during the vacations.

Up at 6 am to do a paper round before school was my pocket money.
I rode a bone shaker of a bike, heavy no gears, to deliver to people with long drives before 8 am. 5/- per week in the early 60s. That bag was so heavy.

It is probably much harder for a 16 year old or anyone else to get a job than it was when we were that age- I was sixteen in 1967 after all, when there was a shortage of workers, not of work.

Probably much the same jobs are available now as then, just not as many of them.

The sixteen year olds I know work in supermarkets, filling shelves and manning the tills. Some deliver post on Saturdays and during the postmen's summer holidays.

Some manage to find jobs that might be relevant to what they want to study, cleaning kennels at boarding kennels or vets, some deliver pizzas and other forms of fast food, but that usually means they need to have a scooter.

Some help out in care homes or kindergartens.

The prospects are not good if the girl really is work-shy as the youngsters I know who are contributing to their keep or ekeing out a student's grant are anything but work-shy.

From the age of 13, saturday jobs, Greengrocers, cafe waitress, greengrocers again and wimpy bar, all before i was 15 when i left school and got a full tine job commuting to London. I never knew anyone who went to university and further or higher education never discussed. It was another 25 years before I graduated as a very nature student.
Both my dds worked saturdays and school holidays from 15. I think it should be encouraged so they learn the value of money and get some independence.

muse

Grandma70s
Already, I'm thinking how extremely lucky some students are to have parents who can fund everything for them whilst studying. I'm not thinking of extra money but money for food, clothes and items needed for studies.

I couldn't help my two children at all throughout their studies. My daughter did a degree and son a B.Tech. My daughter took a part time job and both did make use of the loans which they paid back. She worked at the local restaurant during the vacations when she came home. I took nothing from her whilst she was at home during the vacations.

I did not have rich parents. I had grants (this was before the era of the student loan), not huge but enough. For my postgraduate degree I had a scholarship. My parents probably subsidised my undergraduate life to some extent - I didn’t pay when I was with them in the vacations - but not later. I was independent.

My own children had student loans and vacation jobs.

In principle we stopped our children's pocket money at 16, they were supposed to work for their own spends. However, some of them were playing team sports at a high level, and worked very hard between their training, matches and school / college work. So we discussed it with them, and agreed on a basic allowance to recognise that.
I would want to find out why your DGD is "work shy". Part time jobs are valuable experience, and a decent reference from one goes a long way. After this strange year, I imagine some teenagers lack confidence in going in to work places, and I wonder if anyone can help or advise her.

I washed hair and swept up in a local hairdressers at 15 and then worked in various cafes (seaside town) from about 14 onwards - sometimes two or three jobs at once.

I did all sorts of jobs while at school 2 evenings I cut out batman type capes worked in market Saturday's selling jewelry I loved the atmosphere I was 14/15 .left school at 15 by which time my parents were retired I worked in woollen mil!s and factory ,s until I was 20 then sat entrance exam for nursing passed and retired from that 40+yrs later .

I did babysitting at that age. No mobile phones to contact parents in those days enjoying a night out so if the baby/toddler cried it made me anxious hoping it be able to settle them!

Best money was for the council. I’d put my name up for delivery election cards or leaflets (can’t remember). Anyway it was two weeks of work. A lot of walking & it rained a lot! My friend did one half of the street and I did the opposite or on a single row of houses we alternated, posting in every other letterbox.

Then I got a Saturday job in our local grocers. A family business.

My parents would not allow me to work whilst at school. More or less went straight into a job when I left at 18. Now school leaving age is 18 I believe unless you go into a job with training like an apprenticeship it can be very hard to get a job at 16. Even a shelf stacking job at Sainsbury’s requires 3 different levels of application, form, watching a video and asking questions on it and then the interview I’m not surprised if teens are put off. My 3 found it difficult as we were in a recession when they were looking, wouldn’t call them workshy, they’re all employed now and very hard working.

I worked in a care home, as care homes go it was probably quite good.
It was summer 1979 and I used to cycle from whichever friends house I had stayed at to the home for a 7.00 am start.
I was often a little hung over?..

I had a strong stomach and dealt with a lot for a 16/17 year old however the straw that broke the camels back was a male resident who left something so long in his commode I had to chop it up to get the lid on to transport to the sluice.

Sorry.

muse

Riverwalk

Regarding your GD - as she's only 16 it will be difficult for her to find a part-time job.

What jobs does your DD think she can realistically apply for?

You can work from the age of 16 as that school leaving age.

www.studentjob.co.uk/ages/jobs-16-year-olds.

Thank you for the student jobs link. I’ve sent it to my daughter and my two teenage grandchildren.

My first part time job was as a paper girl for extra money and at 15 I had a job as a Saturday girl at Boots. I was very dismayed just after 16 when my father found me a full time job at Lyons in Hammersmith in the invoicing office. There was no choice though and I had to go. My father also found me a Sunday morning job at a local shop. The owner was very creepy and tried to touch my breasts. I was mortified and embarrassed but fearful of my father’s reaction. I had to tell Mum but asked her not to tell Dad. I think she must have done but I didn’t hear anymore about that job, thank goodness.

I’ll never forget the older lady who came into Boots every Saturday. She was very unpleasant and complained every week about one of the staff. I used to see her on Sunday mornings at church when she was just so pious. I couldn’t believe someone who professed to be a Christian could be so unkind. That and other family matters made me into an agnostic/atheist.

The job in Hammersmith was a summer holiday job

I was at boarding school as my parents lived overseas, so my first job was when I left school after A levels. I saw a small ad in the DT (the only paper the school got). The ad was by Harrods and they were looking for summer staff. As my parents were bsck in England and we were living in commuter land, they said yes and I spent several months as a junior in the Budget Coat dept.

I wasn't allowed to sell because I wasn't 18 until the end of August, but I packed coats up, took overseas visitors to the Banking Hall if they wanted to use Travellers Cheques and trotted up and down between alterations and the customer. Sometimes I would deliver coats to hotels and central Lindon addresses on my way home, and the buyer would give me 6d for a bar of chocolate for being obliging!

The following summer I worked in the pay office at Harrodsas I was at Uni then Then I worked in Selfridges, in the sub-basement putting the price on Christmas cards, quite the most boring job I ever had,

The following year I worked as a Waitress in a restaurant in the lLke District, before returning to Harrods in the accounting department. Thdn I started ny first career job.

Both my dds had Saturday jobs while doing A levels, and both still did well and got places at their chosen universities.

One did a whole Saturday on lifeguard duty at the local pool. The other did just a morning on reception/answering the phone at an upmarket estate agent - she earned the same as the other, very unfair, but there you go.

I worked in Woolworths as a Saturday girl and in the school holidays from 14 until I went to University. Loved it. I believe the hospitality industry are looking for people so there may be opportunities there for your granddaughter muse.

Pea-picking and fruit-picking at the local farm. I think I got 2/6 ( half a crown ) for all day Saturdays and had to save some of that each week and got saving stamps from the post office on a Monday.
This was before I left school. Then thrown in at the deep end on a surgical ward to train, within 2 weeks of leaving school 2 months short of my 16th birthday.