Pocket Money

While saving up to get married my fiancé and I had full-time jobs, but also worked part-time for a company that employed home-workers. We delivered the raw materials to these ladies, and collected the finished articles.

I worked in a drug store and then a ladies clothing shop. Best job was in the public library. My SC were lucky enough to have an intro into a large, well known publishing comoany and worked there every vacation and after uni. My DD also worked at Halfords on the till. Gruesome but she bought her first car. I think p/t jobs might be harder to find these days. The worst job I heard of was the DD of a friend who put the giblets back into frozen turkeys.

At 13 working for friend’s mum in a cafe. 15 A shoe shop, 16 Lyons Tea shop/bakery (where I met my now ex husband)
At 25 Saturdays in Woolworths as we were so hard up.

Started work after school at 14 helping an old couple to close up their indoor market fruit and veg stall, loved it and they were so kind , I took home loads of fruit and veg given by them.
My sister worked Saturdays at Betty's tea room in Harrogate
and came home with the left over cream buns.
My mum was well pleased with both of us!

As a student I had a few weeks work photocopying documents for a business 2 hours in the morning, 7.00 start, then lunchtimes in the student canteen, benefit was I could eat leftover salad bowls etc.
When my daughter was little, I did a few hours a month translating and voice recording prompts for a business, which were creating programmes for randomising volunteers into drug trials, fascinating insight.
I also delivered free weekly newspapers, which kept me fit, and often I got to chat to interesting people (although there were some very unfriendly ones as well)

I worked in our local sweet shop on Saturdays from 15 but when I became 16 I got a Saturday job in the library, which I loved. It was enough (just) to keep me in Biba dresses and Anello & David shoes.
By the time I'd gone to university I'd done a secretarial course so got temp work as a medical secretary in vacations which paid really well. I was quite affluent for a student, I suppose and ran a car as well.

I was at university in Cardiff and, in my first year long vacation, I worked at Butlins, Barry Island, as a concessionaire. I worked for an independent concern selling souvenir plastic combs and toothbrushes with names printed on them in genuine gold leaf. I had my little heated printing press, a roll of gold leaf and all the letter blocks. My employer showed me how to use the press and was truly astonished when I did it first time! It wasn't exactly rocket science! You could see the names in the waste gold tape after printing.

I had loads of customers, several young lad's who tried to persuade me to print rude words on the combs and toothbrushes. At that time, Butlins' employees (and Concessionaires within the shops) were expected to work absolutely every day. One day I rebelled and reported sick. I needed a day off! When I got back to my little printing press next day, I found the name Betty Swollocks in the waste gold tape. The lady who covered for me had no idea what she'd done by obliging those bad lad's! They had the last laugh. (If you're not sure, swap the B and the Sw!) Luckily, my employer never got to know.

I worked as a lifeguard whilst at college. My grandson is at college and works at a pub. It is difficult at this age to get a job. He applied for many jobs and never got them. His job in a pub was due to who you know. Good luck to your granddaughter x

When I was 15 I worked the whole day from 9 to 6 ish in a shop. Grocery/newsagents. We did allsorts from serving customers, mopping the floor to using the bacon slicer! All for £5 Thus was in 1985. It’s probably illegal now to have a 15 yr old working that long for £5 ?

1975 I worked as a waitress in local hotel weekends and school holidays. Aged 16. I was paid 50p an hour this was used to cover lunch money at school and new uniform and books for going into sixth form any leftover I was allowed to keep.

16 year old's CAN realistically get part-time work! As soon as my son got his national insurance number he got himself a job shelf filling at Asda whilst still at school. Lots of jobs in retail or hairdressers for 16 year olds.

Way back I worked in an offlicence
More recently I was a funeral arranger which was fabulous.
Helping people at the saddest
time in ones life, losing a loved one.

At 13 I had a weekend job in a local corner shop. At 15 I had a Saturday job in Littlewoods. Also some work as a babysitter. I was pleased to hear that my teenage DGD has (off her own bat) been successful at interview for a summer job with a well-known retail company.

Office work at first from age 14, doing printing in an engineering office. There was a diazo machine for making plan copies, it stank of ammonia. I also worked in a factory making emergency lighting; I'm still a dab hand at soldering. When I was eighteen I added bar work into the mix. I've also done survey work (my most miserable job), fruit picking, chambermaiding, filing, reception, shop work....

I had many part time jobs when I was young but one that stands out is working behind a bar and being sacked after three days for being to quiet,
If only they could see me now.?

I worked in a greengrocers on Saturdays when at school, picked strawberries and tomatoes during college holidays. My daughter swept up in a hairdressers and babysat, son cleared glasses in the local pub, then bar work when he turned 18.
When I was between jobs 20 odd years ago I stacked shelves in a supermarket to keep some money coming in.

I worked on the farms at weekends and holidays picking fruit and veg, I did a Sunday paper round and baby sat. My son had a part time job while at school and college and his children, my gc, all had part time jobs and one of them worked from the day she was 16. She got the job by simply going into cafes, shops etc asking for a job until she was given one. I believe that it is good for for young people to have part time jobs and learn the value of money.

I pushed my sons to work to learn responsibility, the independent elder son did, the younger son refused. I regret the elder son working as I believe it distracted him from his schoolwork. Once he started I couldn’t really ask him to stop as it had been my stupid idea.

Calling your gd “workshy” is rather unkind. Teenagers have gone through a pandemic and it is a stressful time to re enter the workforce let alone start out in a first time job. It’s the parents role to support their children financially for all essentials until the age of 18.
It is fine for a child to work for ‘extras’ like extra non essential clothes and entertainment etc if it doesn’t interfere with school work and sports activities but not working to pay for any living costs.

The summer before my last year at Secondary school, I got a job in a big hotel in our nearest town. I was 17 yrs old then and was hired to do waitressing, but soon the manager elevated me to store keeper, where I held the key to the fridge with all the cold meats and cheeses. I enjoyed it alot and probably saved some of my wages.
During my years as a student nurse, as we earned very little then, it was 1967, I did lots of babysitting, worked in nursing homes sometimes at weekends and a few times in a wimpy.
My DSS did paper rounds, later worked in supermarkets at weekends.
Our oldest had a grant for Uni, the two younger ones had loans which they've managed to pay back.
I think it's good for students to work during their holidays, they appreciate the value of work, learn to socially interact and how to work with others.

I worked at Boots Chemist from the week after my 15th Birthday, doing Saturdays and School holidays for £1.50 per day, 8am to 5.30pm. We had Wednesday afternoons and Sundays off. We also got 17% discount on any goods we bought, and l always used mine to buy end of line reduced make up and perfume sets, of which there were plenty in the January sales!

A friend then told me that the Co- op supermarket paid better at £2.00 a day and were looking for staff, so l applied and got a job on the checkouts there. I was 17, and working the summer waiting to start my Nurse training. I met and later Married my first husband whilst working at the Co-op, we had some really fun times there, the manager at the time often went to the pub at lunch times and spent the afternoon worse for wear in his office, and being teenagers, we had a ball!

Sadly my marriage did not last, we divorced and moved on, l remarried a few years later and have now been with DH2 for over 30 years, and enjoyed a nursing career and 5 DDs along the way.

Had part time jobs, after school and on Saturdays from the age of 12. Garden nursery and a farm.
Later when working and saving up to get married, did an evening job three times a week ( straight after my day job ended) in a restaurant.
Your 16 yr old DGD would benefit in many ways doing a job and not just the money, so hope your DD chivvies her to do something to help the family.

GD did do a voluntary job for for DofE award and enjoyed it.

Yes, one of mine did that for the D of E scheme.

GD helps out a little but she could do a lot more

Helping out at home is just so boring compared with getting a job and earning money!

Nannarose - work shy are her mum's words. GD did do a voluntary job for for DofE award and enjoyed it. The past two years have been difficult for my daughter and GD together. GD helps out a little but she could do a lot more. I think she will change once she has left school and started at the college.

Thank you for the comments about my GD but I posted the thread primarily as a way of a looking at how it is different for youngster these days compared to what we did.

Accept my apologies, but I can't offer any more information about my GD. I'm not unduly worried about her as I feel my daughter is doing a grand job. I'm very proud of her.

It's amazing what responsibilities were taken on with some of the jobs you all did years ago. Every enterprising too Suki70

Trisha57 What lovely pie and mash owners they were.

Oh! As for me, I did babysitting when at school then worked in a pub when I was at college (I hated that).