16% of schoolchildren have a permanent part-time job

In Russia, 16% of schoolchildren work – these are the results shown by a survey by MAXIMUM Education. Most often, students get jobs as promoters, waiters or salespeople and earn from 5 thousand to 60 thousand rubles. per month. Experts interviewed by Kommersant found many advantages in such a part-time job, but reminded that study should remain the main priority.

In October and November, the educational company MAXIMUM Education conducted an e-mail survey of students in grades 7–11 from all regions of Russia. 1293 people took part in it. As it turned out, 16% of schoolchildren have a permanent part-time job. And 62% of their unemployed peers would like to get a job. The most popular positions were promoters, salespeople and waiters. As a rule, they manage to earn up to 5 thousand rubles in a month. This was stated by 41% of respondents. 26% receive from 5 thousand to 15 thousand rubles, 17% reported that they earn in the range of 15–30 thousand rubles, and 6% receive more than 60 thousand rubles per month.

Only 5% of working schoolchildren said that they help their family in this way. Most often, schoolchildren want to feel independent (34%). Lack of pocket money became a reason to look for work for 22% of students. Another 21% hope that any work experience will allow them to earn more in the future. However, only 17% of respondents plan to further develop in the field where they currently work. “More than half of those who answered this way are people of creative professions. These are 3D artists, SMM specialists, actors, models, and so on. Popularizing career guidance among schoolchildren would make it much easier for them to find their path in life,” says Mikhail Myagkov, CEO of MAXIMUM Education.

“A part-time job helps with self-determination: a teenager begins to better understand his desires in building a career path,” says Anastasia Ekushevskaya, academic director of the online school for children and teenagers Skysmart. “In addition, it develops a number of important skills: financial literacy, time management, planning day, teamwork, responsibility, communication skills.” Ms. Ekushevskaya adds that “for employment in a difficult field,” it is better to try the internship format to see the processes from the inside. Vitaly Altukhov, director of development and research for the career guidance platform for teenagers Profilum, agrees with her: “Early work experience increases the likelihood of a successful career in adulthood, because many successful entrepreneurs started working very early and quickly began earning their first money.” Even with a temporary job, you can acquire skills that are useful in any field, says Mr. Altukhov.

However, associate professor of the basic department of the charitable foundation for supporting educational programs “Captains” of REU. G.V. Plekhanova Tatyana Zakharova reminds: “The physiological ability to effectively absorb knowledge decreases over the years. Consequently, it is irrational to waste the “golden” educational years on low-paid and low-skilled work. And employers see, first of all, that applicants who began their early careers have serious gaps in education.” Therefore, schoolchildren need to focus on education, and part-time work can be transferred to the holidays, Mrs. Zakharova is sure.

Ksenia Ermishina, head of the department of creative industries at the New Look school, notes that adults need to understand with what motivation a student goes to work: “If this is due to the desire for independence and adulthood, we can assume that the child has increased anxiety.” Ms. Ermishina believes that effective motivation is “the desire to try out your talents, hobbies in a broader context, to test your abilities in the real world.” She suggests integrating part-time work into the educational process: “In modern Russian education, there is a trend towards the development of project activities in high school and the connection between school education and the real world. Nobody bothers you to make, for example, jewelry for sale – and at the same time discuss them with teachers as an independent project. Let’s not forget about the same school wall newspapers. In Soviet times, through them, many children went as assistants to local editorial offices, and later – to big-time journalism.” The attention of parents and teachers will help a teenager avoid psychological problems, the expert believes: “A child who gets his first profession based on his skills and hobbies, and not trying to escape from reality, understands what he likes to do and what he would definitely not want to devote to own life. And this discovery may be even more important than the earnings themselves.”

Polina Yachmennikova