Teens can cash in on summer jobs and expect to be paid more as employers scramble to fill openings this year

• Employers are looking to teens to fill labor gaps this summer.
• The national average teen wage is expected to be nearly $15 per hour.
• There were 10 million job openings in April, many in sectors ripe for teen employment.

Employers are looking to teens to fill labor gaps this summer — and they are willing to pay well.

Gusto, a payroll and benefits company, predicts teens will make up one in five hires this summer. And many of these teens can command higher wages, even as overall wage growth stalls.

Teens in typical summer jobs like lifeguards, camp counselors, waiters, and retail workers should see raises this year. They can expect, on average, 9% higher wages than last year, Gusto found. The national average teen wage is expected to be $14.89 per hour.

"We have a widespread labor shortage in the American economy, and that's pushing up wages, especially teen wages," said Paul Harrington, an economist at Rhode Island College and one of the authors of its teen job outlook report, told the Wall Street Journal. "That's going to bring kids into the job market." 

Teen workers are benefiting from less competition from older workers who were pushed out of the workforce during the pandemic, Harrington told the Journal. 

There were 10 million job openings in April, many in sectors ripe for teen employment, like leisure and hospitality. Summer job openings are slightly less than last year, according to Indeed. And there's a particular shortage of summer internships, which are down over 14%, Indeed found. 

But one expert speaking to the New York Times said more teenagers already have jobs. In March, 5.48 million workers ages 16 to 19 were employed, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas told the Times, the highest total since 2007, when 5.61 million teenagers were employed, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that was not seasonally adjusted.

Some states have pushed for loser laws regarding teen employment to address worker shortages. These states have put forth legislation to allow teens to work longer hours, serve alcohol in bars, and work without permits.

Recently, the dark side of teen and child labor has been highlighted in the news, particularly in restaurant jobs, where there have been cases of underaged workers being asked to work long hours or dangerous jobs.

But overall, summer jobs have positive benefits for teens and the economy, according to the Rhode Island College report.

"Teen employment is highly path-dependent — the more teens work today, the more likely they will work tomorrow," the report said. "This has long-term implications for long-term labor supply, unemployment, and dependency."