She works about 58 hours a month, in addition to school. One weekday afternoon, one weekend shift. Her first job was at her brother’s coffee shop when she was 13. Her parents didn’t require her to work, but she was allowed to keep the money herself. And when her brother asked her to do it, it was that simple.

This willingness to start working at an early age is changing in Denmark, as became clear last week. research On behalf of the trade union movement (AE) among 64,987 young people aged thirteen to seventeen. In the 1980s, more young people worked outside school than now. At that time, seven out of ten students worked part-time, now the number is five out of ten. The research also showed that this is lower among children of parents with higher or academic education. One in three works there. Summer jobs are not included.

Abby has classmates who don’t work because they don’t need the money. She thinks they do chores for their parents. “Grocery shopping and stuff.” Sometimes she finds it hard when classmates go out to do something fun after school and she can’t join them because she works. But it’s nice for them to have money to themselves. She mainly spends it on “food, coffee, clothes, and self-care,” by which she means skincare products.

unemployed

Children who work do better later on many fronts than children who don’t, the researchers wrote. They are more likely to have completed training by age 22 and thus work more part-time than children with no experience. Among young people with part-time jobs, 8 percent are not working at age 22. That’s 14 percent of young people who had no work experience in their youth. The effect is similar among young people of all socioeconomic classes.

The researchers concluded that starting work early is good for children, but it is also good for the Danish economy. Denmark, like the Netherlands, has a tight labour market. The unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in May (Eurostat), but has sometimes not exceeded 2.5 percent in previous years. Young, affordable workers are very welcome.

Before the summer holidays, the Danish government announced a plan to attract more young people to work. In this way, the hours during which children are allowed to work are being extended. Now in most sectors it is not allowed before 6 a.m. and after 10 p.m. More types of work are also being classified as “light,” which young people are allowed to do. For example, tutoring and preparing food. The work contribution, a tax of 8 percent, will be abolished for them.

Youth advisor for the trade union organization FH Kasper Stisen believes it is a shame that highly educated parents take care of their children. Unable to motivate enoughHe told the Danish newspaper: Policy In response to the research: “I fear they think their children are not qualified to take back plastic bottles at the supermarket. Or they find homework more important.

On the beauty shelf of the Normal discount store, fourteen-year-old Freddy and fifteen-year-old Laevke (minors in this article are referred to by their first names only) share a basket of their belongings. Laevke works in a bakery, Fred doesn’t. “My parents don’t think it’s necessary. They say, ‘I can work my whole life.’” In addition, she practices badminton six times a week, before and after school. That doesn’t include the matches she plays on the weekends. She has savings from birthdays, Christmas and other events. “My parents give me what I need.” Sometimes she charges extra, like skin care products. “Then I say, ‘It’s really necessary for my skin.’”

Children with highly educated parents work less outside of school. Perhaps because of less financial incentive, one of the study’s authors, Emily Dam-Klarskov, suggested in PolicyShe also believes that these same parents do not work in companies that typically employ young people. “We know from other studies that lack of support from parents and poor knowledge of where to look for work can be a barrier to young people when it comes to leisure jobs.”

Special horse

Seventeen-year-old Silje is actually too busy to find a job. She rides her horse every day, she says, on a Copenhagen shopping street where she is with a friend. She bought it with the money she received at her funeral. Many young people say they can live for years on the money they receive as gifts from their parents, family and friends. Next year, Silje will start training to become a childcare worker. The training is an important part of it. “There I automatically learn what I need to know for work,” she says.

Another girl, Cecilia, 14, says she is looking for a summer job. She used to work at a fitness center, but felt she had to pay too much tax. The current government wants to abolish this tax on young people. She laughs and says she is “definitely not getting” what she needs from her parents, which is why she is looking for a job now. “They want me to work and be independent.”

Malin, 30, and Morten Olsen, 37, have lunch in the covered market hall with Malin’s father, 81. They believe that parents in Denmark give their children money “too easily.” They both had jobs when they were younger. Morten delivered newspapers, Malin worked in a cinema. Morten Olsen: “Work is good and teaches you everything you need for the rest of your life.”

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