Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,
Joslyne Baird has been looking for a job for about a year to help her family pay the bills.
She began her job search at 14 years old, applying to summer camps and grocery stores around her small Kentucky town of about 1,500 people, without success, she told The Epoch Times.
"I'm looking for babysitting jobs, mowing jobs, cleaning jobs, and so much more," the now 15-year-old said. "Anything I'm able to do to make money for, I will do."
Baird has not heard back from a single employer to which she submitted applications, she said.
What the Kentucky teenager is experiencing is a continuation of a trend that began in 2025: a worsening job market for American teens looking for summer work.
Experts accurately predicted last summer to be the toughest on record, and forecasted this one to be even worse, which some teenagers feel is true.
Whether it's waiting tables, bagging groceries, or stocking shelves, a summer job is one of many rites of passage into adulthood as kids seek more responsibility, less parental oversight, and their own money to spend, but experts say these roles typically filled by teens are fading.
However, there still exists a path to making money, some teenagers told The Epoch Times, even if it means becoming your own boss.
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