Teens are ‘seeing opportunities’ as declining employment trend reverses: ‘Generations’ author

Teen employment is on the up and up, according to one San Diego State University psychology professor. 

“It’s a strong job market out there for people who want to work hard, and so teens are seeing that,” “Generations” author Jean Twenge said during an interview on FOX Business’ “The Big Money Show.”

Teens are “seeing opportunities” in the labor market due to labor shortages and they are filling roles where they are qualified, she said. 

Following a decline, the labor participation rate for 16 to 19-year-olds reached a 14-year high in March 2024 at a rate of 38.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

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However, Twenge noted that the rate of filling the roles will not achieve those levels of the 80s and 90s, which were in the 60% percent range.

“They’re taking longer to do all adult things, including going out of the house and dating and drinking alcohol, and that includes having a paid job,” she said. 

Meanwhile, during a Fox News Digital interview, Judge Judy Sheindlin sent a warning to Gen Z over workplace behavior and weighed in on the trophy culture.

“When I grew up, you ran a race. You came in first. You got a trophy. Sometimes you even got a second-place prize. Even the Olympics have three prizes, but if there are 20 people in a race and everybody gets a trophy, you get a trophy for first, second, third, fourth, most congenial, best outfit, best sportsmanship, most personality, best joke. So everybody gets a trophy,” Scheindlin said. 

The professor reacted to Scheindlin’s commentary, explaining that some aspects of the culture benefit each generation when applied in a workplace setting.

“There’s certainly some benefits that they learned the importance of showing up on time, doing a good job, that sometimes, yeah, you got to do what your boss tells you to do, even if you don’t want to. And these are things that are even tough to learn for every generation and for Gen Z, it really helps them grow that independence, develop a lot of those skills.” 

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“They really need to be successful as adults because there’s trade-offs to everything, and there’s some good things about them taking longer to grow up,” she added. 

However, with those benefits, also comes downsides, Twenge said, warning of the problems faced by taking too long to grow up. 

“The downside is they’re graduating from high school, going to the workforce, graduating from college, never had a job, and then what happens, right, that’s the problem,” she stressed.

The author also chimed in on whether she has seen an increase in entrepreneurial spirit among Gen Z and younger generations. 

“Well, not really. Not from what the high school students are saying in surveys, there has been a little bit of an uptick in those who say they want to be an entrepreneur, own their own business,” she said, noting that the trend “peaked” with Gen X in the 80s and 90s.

Despite her observation, Twenge gave credit to Gen Zers for having a “lot of other strengths,” such as empathy and interest in jobs that are helpful to others. 

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