Work’s a great start in life

IN THE past five years the number of school children officially employed in part-time work has dropped by more than a fifth. These days employers wanting to give an under-16 work have to apply for a child employment permit. Cue callers to my BBC Radio show lamenting the lack of paper rounds, Saturday jobs and casual labour most of us feel set us up royally for life in the workplace.

A gentleman called Ginger started gainful employment at the tender age of seven, helping the local milko. His wages were a pint of gold top which he remembers as purest bliss.

As adults we remember vividly the shock of having to put our best feet forward, show up on time, speak civilly to difficult customers, endure hours of boredom and work as a team alongside folk we’d never have dreamed of mixing with otherwise. We also recall with supreme satisfaction the soaring surge of independence that came with toting home our first pay packets. Many of my callers credited their under-16 jobs with influencing their ultimate choice of career, either because they fell in love with the gig and knew they’d found their vocation or because they loathed every second and realised they had better apply themselves at school and earn a qualification that would propel them miles away. The verdict was unanimous: working from an early age is a character-building opportunity for which we are all grateful and feel dreadfully sorry for today’s children who don’t have the same chance.