Parent's just don't understand.

I prepare taxes for a living.  I prepare a lot of tax returns (over 850 per year) and I’m not sure if it is because I have 2 teenagers or if the overwhelming anecdotal evidence is smacking me in the face but there is a serious epidemic of laziness going on out there among teenagers and young adults.

I have to blame myself for some of this in my case, I had kids at an older age and not when I was 20.  So the kids didn't see when I had to eat soup so that I could make rent, or when me and my wife had to be on a real budget to make sure we didn't have too much month at the end of the money.

We live a mild manor middle class life style were we want for little and spend little trying to save for the future when we can retire and travel.  So if something came up unexpected we didn't have to stress about covering the costs like I remember my parents having to do on a few occasions.  I believe that because my kids have not witness this, they don’t have the same respect for working hard and saving your money.

Don’t get me wrong, my dad and mom had to get on me to mow the lawn and clean my room too. Household chores were not something I did without being told.  However, I always did a little extra work for extra cash.  I am old enough to have been a paperboy (part-time back up to a friend’s route) but at 12 years old, he and I got up during a blizzard and did his route which was an adventure and a pain.  At 14 I did some part time work for my aunt’s business on Saturdays and at 16 I got a job at McDonald’s and within 18 months was a shift manager.

I can’t get my 18 soon to be 19 year old to do much more then fill out a few applications. She has had jobs at a couple of daycare business but she just doesn't have a desire to make any more money then what I give her for doing chores, which might be were I've gone wrong but I am not alone.

Many parents I talk to in my practice have the same issues.  Oh there are kids that are working but I almost see them as outliers and I am almost amazed when someone’s 18 year old made $14,000 because they worked when they got out of high school.

 

The flip side to this as an employer is that I do not want to hire teenagers either.  They text too much, don’t want to follow instructions and act like they are doing you a favor.  If I have to pay at least $7.25 per hour (Min wage) and for my jobs about $5.00 per hour more then I want someone trained / trainable and will show up.  An adult.

There is going to be a day when they will need to leave the house and I’m afraid they are not prepared for it, but I and my wife must have the courage to kick our babies out of the nest and they will either fly or crash to the ground.

UPDATE: 8/20/2015
This summer both my kids had jobs! My oldest daughter got her 2 year degree and transferred to a 4 year university.  So even though they still are behind some of those kids I do taxes for, they are moving in the right direction. So nevermind! : )