“I’ll be more prepared than most people”: Very young Canadian workers talking about their first jobs

Abstract

We report on interviews with very young Canadian workers regarding their first jobs, with a focus on why they started working, the rewards and risks of their work, and their familial supports. Our participants were largely positive about their early work experiences, although they also raised concerns, e.g. about safety. We reflect on three interrelated themes emerging from their accounts: competence and vulnerability, independence and dependence, and protection and under-protection.

Grill Guys and Drive-Thru Girls: Discourses of Gender in Young People’s Part-Time Work

“…This paper enhances the North American literature on young people's earliest job experiences and illustrates the ongoing saliency of gender and gender inequality in shaping these experiences. Most of our participants were positive about their early work as a way to earn money and develop skills, echoing observations made by others (Besen-Cassino, 2018;Herrygers & Wieland, 2017;Hobbs et al, 2007;Levine & Hoffner, 2006), although they also faced challenges around transportation, scheduling, and safety (Raby et al, 2018). In this paper we specifically focus on how gender shaped our participants' very first job experiences and their reflections on them.…”

“…Meanings and expectations of work are shaped by various intersecting social factors, including, but not limited to, gender (Besen-Cassino, 2014, 2018Chan & Ng, 2013;Damaske, 2011;Francis, Archer, Moote, DeWitt, MacLeod, & Yeomans, 2017;Harris, 2004;Raby et al, 2018). Drawing on several quantitative studies and interviews with young adults about their recollections of early work, Besen-Cassino challenges the frequent focus on adulthood in research on gender inequality and work, and also controls for variables such as marriage and childcare that are typically used as factors to explain the ongoing gender wage gap.…”

“…Although official statistics on youth employment in Canada focus on youth between the ages of 15 and 24, as we have indicated, many young people work before they are 15. Our general call for participants who were working in their very first jobs led to open-ended interviews with 23 participants from two cities in Ontario and 9 from two cities in British Columbia about a wide range of early, part-time jobs (see Raby et al, 2018). Many participants also talked about earlier work experiences, such as babysitting, that they had not previously recognized as jobs.…”

“…Early, part-time work experiences as cashiers, drive-thru attendants, and short-order cooks are common for youth 1 in North America, and sometimes popularly constructed as a way to keep youth "out of trouble" and prepare them for future employment (e.g., Raby, Lehmann, Easterbrook, & Helleiner, 2018;Usher et al, 2014). However, most literature on youth and work is focused on either health and safety risks (e.g., Breslin, Koehoorn, & Cole, 2008;Tucker & Turner, 2015) or the potential for early, parttime work to lead to negative academic and psychosocial outcomes (e.g., Lee & Orazem, 2010;Mortimer & Staff, 2004;Post & Pong, 2009).…”

“…It is also largely quantitative in nature. More limited qualitative research has examined young people's experiences at work, mostly focused on how they balance school and work, their work tasks, and how they deal with workplace issues (e.g., Cohen, 2013;Raby et al, 2018;Zierold & McGeeney, 2016).…”