Collection 6: "Teens Need Jobs, Not Just Cash" by Anne Michaud

So it’s troubling that teens today are facing their third straight summer of bleak employment prospects—in fact, the worst since World War II, when the government began keeping track.

One study in the United States and Britain said that 37-year-old men who had sustained a year of unemployment before age 23 made 23 percent less than their peers.

College graduates who took jobs beneath their education or outside of their fields often never got back to where they might have been, according to what the Japanese learned from their “lost decade” of economic doldrums in the 1990s and early 2000s.

These structural problems with capitalism—the ups and downs of the business cycle—should not be borne by individuals, but collectively.

Germany’s renowned apprenticeship program, a training period of two to four years, attracts roughly two-thirds of vocational school students there.

Germany’s renowned apprenticeship program, a training period of two to four years, attracts roughly two-thirds of vocational school students there.

Germany’s renowned apprenticeship program, a training period of two to four years, attracts roughly two-thirds of vocational school students there.

The Netherlands, also keen on averting a lost generation of workers, is dividing full-time private sector jobs into two or three part-time ones, with government providing supplemental income for part-time workers.

The Netherlands, also keen on averting a lost generation of workers, is dividing full-time private sector jobs into two or three part-time ones, with government providing supplemental income for part-time workers.

When teens work, it teaches them independence, responsibility, a good work ethic and how to get along with others.