Teenager’s work, life, and school. A juggle or a struggle?
Photo by: Hong Zi Han
As a teenager, do you work part-time? Now let’s ask around to see how many of your peers are working part-time. For me, it would be easier to count the number of students who do not have a part-time job than the other way round. In fact, I am a student who works part-time myself.
According to the 2023 labour force report by the Ministry of Manpower, 33.2% of youths aged 15 to 24 are employed. It may seem like a small percentage, but it is still over hundreds of thousands of people.
As a student who works part-time, I fill in the days where I am not in school with work. Whenever a public holiday rolls around, instead of thinking “yay, a break for me!” I think “yay, there’s double pay!” For students like me, this seems to be a common trend in their schedules – weekdays, long hours of school. During the weekends, part-time work, and holidays mean more time for work.
When students lead such lifestyles, one key element comes into play: time management. However, teenagers do not commonly manage their time well, especially with so much on their plate. I am not an exception. With such tight schedules, when do we have time to ourselves? The answer is simple – we barely do.
Take Chua Lee-An, a Junior College student as an example. In an article she did with CNA in 2023, she mentioned that she struggles with work-life balance. As a student, on regular school days she already does a lot of school work, even during the weekends. Yet, she is still packed with school work during the holidays. Now imagine working part-time on top of this.
I also tend to struggle to find time for myself. On the rare days that I do get to catch my breath, the overexertion will start to sink in and I end up feeling sluggish the whole day. Even during regular school or work days, the exhaustion gets to me. There is an explanation for this however…
According to a research conducted back in 2023 by College Success Plan, the lack of time management and imbalanced work-life comes with its cons: lack of sleep, stress, declining academic performance, poor diet, and the list goes on. These factors will accumulate and lead to overall burn out, which is common among the majority of teenagers. It may also lead to the deterioration of mental health.
It is not unknown that students face a large amount of academic stress. So it really does beg the question, why do teenagers work part-time and build on more stress?
According to a recent post on Quora, the reasons vary. Some prefer to be financially independent from their parents or guardians, while some earn money for a boost in their sense of responsibility and make their own financial choices. Where else, some work to expand their portfolio and gain experience, some simply enjoy the freedom of spending, while some work because they need the money to support themselves or their families.
For me, I just like the feeling of freedom when spending. I am lucky enough to be supported financially by my parents. However, I do enjoy splurging on myself. If it makes me happy, the price is just a number. Hence, I work to earn some spare money so I can be financially independent when splurging on non-essential items. It is also more fulfilling for me to spend my own hard-earned money.
Putting aside all the reasons, it is still concerning that teenagers overexert themselves for the sake of having more financial power. In general, people seem to be concerned over academic stress in students. However, should the stress that student part-timers face be a topic that people begin looking into as well?
