Many families have encountered financial roadblocks during the outbreak of COVID-19. This makes younger members of the family, like teenagers, need to step up and help earn money. Along with kids who need to help out their own families, there are many others who are looking to get jobs to learn responsibility and provide themselves some extra savings for future financial stability. The job market has obviously been very different recently with many people losing jobs and looking for new ones. Thus, teenagers who are searching for some of their first jobs in our society’s current situation are not facing an easy task.

         When looking for a job, being under the age of 18 can always be a roadblock. Some establishments let teens under 18 work, while some do not even accept their applications. Working in an industry such as the fast food or restaurant business can be an easy go-to for people who need a job but do not have much working experience. However, during a pandemic, restaurant jobs are harder to come by because of the growing demand for take-out food. Since there are less people going out to eat, there are not as many hostesses or servers needed. All of these added factors from the coronavirus and how it affects society can be hard on teenagers’ mental health as well.

It can be a very mentally exhausting challenge to find a job because it is a waiting game. For teens, especially now, this can be even more wearying due to the struggles brought on by the coronavirus. These struggles can include the lack of a community to lean on and the lack of a normal schedule. With school being online, all students’ schedules have been very different from previous years. This affects the hours that teens are able to work because it can be harder to manage time to get all of the work done at home. Thus, working less hours due to overbearing schoolwork leads to less money for the teenager and/or their family.

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