Teenagers are left strapped for cash as Covid-19 ruins their summer job plans
TEENS looking for work in the summer of Covid-19 face uncertainty with a shortage of jobs leaving them financially strapped and starved of work experience.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) warns of a cash crux for students at both second and third level, who traditionally rely on summer income to pay for educationrelated and other expenses.
USI president Lorna Fitzpatrick said young people had been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
With the vast majority of students typically employed in retail and the hospitality sector, where capacity is at a much reduced rate, she fears many will be finding themselves out of work this summer.
Brian Houghton (17) counts himself lucky. The teenager, who is about enter sixth year at Carndonagh Community School, Co Donegal, spent last summer working for Inish Adventures, a kayaking and water sports centre on the shores of Lough Foyle. Happily, as lockdown restrictions ease, he is back again this year.
While the money is welcome, he said the job is about much more. “It’s definitely helped me up my people skills. I’m able to go on a half-day sea kayaking trip with people and I’m chatting away to them all the time and finding out all about them. I would never have been able to do that before,” he said.
For Riain Shortt (18), working at Inish Adventures means there is structure to the week. The teenager, who will start sixth year at Moville Community College in September, loves his parttime job, but said not all his friends had been lucky and were struggling to get a job.
“Having a job gets you out. You’re not just sitting in the house waiting to hear from your friends. You have something to do and you’re getting paid for it,” he said.
Colman Noctor, child and adolescent psychotherapist with St Patrick’s Mental Health Service, said that along with benefits such as teaching responsibility and how to budget, the structure offered by summer jobs was important. He said this summer would be very different as that structure was off the table for many.
He had already seen in his practice how the loss of structure in the day resulting from Covid-19 had affected teens, who were going to bed later and getting up later.
National Youth Council of Ireland deputy director James Doorley agreed it could be a difficult summer for young people with the lack of jobs, particularly in tourism.
If young people cannot get a job, he would encourage them to consider voluntary work and use their time productively that way.
According to Rachel O’Connor, principal of Ramsgrange Community College, Co Wexford, for young people in disadvantaged areas the summer job presents an opportunity to earn their own money.
Traditionally, many of the school’s senior pupils have summer jobs to help pay for college and, in the time of Covid-19, she said having a job had allowed young people to keep in touch with others.
“Their whole lives changed dramatically overnight,” she said.
“Those who have been able to work have maintained social contacts. There have been lots of kids sitting at home whose parents may have been working, and they have spent considerable time alone.”
The lack of employment prospects has led to some students becoming more creative.
Rachael Kennedy (17), an incoming sixth year at Ramsgrange CC, is building a website to display and sell some her artwork.
She wants to study art at third level and started with a blog before coming up with the idea of trying to sell her wares online.
“I had the idea of starting up my own business. I have various sizes of canvases and people can ask for commissions if they want something more personal. I have one chance to do this right – if the price is too high or too low I lose out,” she said.
Her schoolmate Patrick Sinnott (17) is spending the summer in Germany working at a horse farm.
Having previously worked at the local pony trekking centre, he grabbed the opportunity to work abroad.
He envisages a career working with horses and the job is providing experience.
“It’s enjoyable and I’m learning new stuff every day. The main thing is I’m saving a bit of money. You’re putting in a good day’s work and you’re getting paid,” he said.
For 16-year-old Tiárnan Carron, a student at Colaiste Colmcille in Bundoran, Co Donegal, breeding chickens and volunteering is keeping boredom at bay.
He did research before buying the birds he wants to breed and hopes this will give him good-quality chicks.
He is also taking pictures for a local historical society to document the lives of families during these strange times.