From fivethirtyeight - Poor kids need summer jobs, rich kids get them

[tonyt53]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/poor-kids-need-summer-jobs-rich-kids-get-them/

[NCTraveler]

1. .

Young Americans from low-income families have been especially hard-hit by the decline in summer employment. According to data from the Current Population Survey, teenagers whose families make less than $20,000 per year are now less than half as likely to work as those from families who earn at least $100,000, and, unlike their wealthier peers, low-income teens have seen hardly any rebound in employment since the recession ended. (Black and Hispanic teens, too, have far lower employment rates than whites.)

Teens from less privileged backgrounds face numerous barriers to finding jobs. They are less likely to own a car (or have access to one), and often live in areas where jobs are scarce. Their parents are less likely to be able to help them get a foot in the door at a local business. They may attend schools that are, or are perceived as, inferior, making them less attractive to prospective employers. And they may face discrimination based on race, class or other factors. None of those barriers is new, of course, but they may have grown higher as the U.S. has become more unequal and more segregated by class.

From the link in the op.

[MineralMan]

2. That's not surprising, really.

I see it all the time here in the Twin Cities.

I'm not sure it's a new thing, though. Thinking back to my own teen years, over half a century ago, I think the situation was similar. I grew up in a town with about a 30% Hispanic population. Those kids had trouble getting part-time jobs, while others did not.

When I turned 16, my parent shut off my allowance and strongly suggested I get a part-time job. I did a few different things, but wanted something regular. My dad spoke to the owner of the local dairy and told me to go talk to him. I ended up delivering milk six days a week from 5-8 AM. My father had an influence in it, no doubt, but I still had to convince the dairy owner. I know for a certainty, though, that if my name had ended in -ez or some other Hispanic name, I wouldn't have gotten that plum job for a busy teenager. No question about it.

Prejudice was real then and it remains real now.

[Hortensis]

3. Someone was pointing out just yesterday that,

even though he taught for years at a rather...forgot the word "elite?", whatever, college, most of the students had held jobs before. (Just went back to check the wording and found the post deleted, so don't know what to make of that.)