Can kids work?
Discussion
When I was 14 (28 years ago) I had a shop job and a paper round, and with that cash I bought my first computer (An Acorn Electron if you care) for £200 I think - I remember handing over notes and pennies etc.
My Lad of 14 desperately wants a laptop now - no chance of us being able to get one for him currently.
What kind of jobs could he be employed in to get some cash nowadays? You never see kids in shops anymore.. Is it now illegal to employ under 16's?
To be fair to him he raised £100 odd in the summer washing cars, which is sat in the bank £300 short of a laptop.
Any experiences welcome.
My Lad of 14 desperately wants a laptop now - no chance of us being able to get one for him currently.
What kind of jobs could he be employed in to get some cash nowadays? You never see kids in shops anymore.. Is it now illegal to employ under 16's?
To be fair to him he raised £100 odd in the summer washing cars, which is sat in the bank £300 short of a laptop.
Any experiences welcome.
Yes, but the restrictions are very tight and it's just not worth the bother for most shops.
A paper round should pay over £10 a week these days, and he can do a Sunday one too if he's really desperate. That may well be as much as £5 since the papers are so bloody heavy.
Other than that, if you have a skittles league locally the teams will often pay a bit of cash in hand for a "sticker-upper" who puts the pins back in place because they can't be arsed to do it themselves. Perhaps also babysitting if he's responsible, dog walking, doing odd jobs for neighbours, etc. etc. It depends how desperate he is for the laptop really, and how much you'll allow him to do.
A paper round should pay over £10 a week these days, and he can do a Sunday one too if he's really desperate. That may well be as much as £5 since the papers are so bloody heavy.
Other than that, if you have a skittles league locally the teams will often pay a bit of cash in hand for a "sticker-upper" who puts the pins back in place because they can't be arsed to do it themselves. Perhaps also babysitting if he's responsible, dog walking, doing odd jobs for neighbours, etc. etc. It depends how desperate he is for the laptop really, and how much you'll allow him to do.
Edited by davepoth on Tuesday 11th December 22:48
pokethepope said:
Assuming he doesn't want it for gaming, just for Facebook and homework, you don't have to add much to £100 to get a perfectly capable netbook or laptop.
Ten seconds on Google brought up this:£170, it will play (old) games too:
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Refurbished_Grade_A...
lawrence567 said:
Can you not pay him to do things for you that you don't want to do, for instance tidying the house / walking the dogs, that sort of thing?
I wish! He's utterly feckless around the house, however, he did such a good job washing cars he had lots of recommendations through a local facebook group that he couldn't keep up with demand.To be honest, even at 14 I'm not comfortable with a paper round, too many cars with not enough sense.
He even earned £40 for dog walking over the summer.
I guess my question was more about back room jobs in factorys or shops after school and weekends- it sounds like they don't exist any more?
my 15 yr old son gets about £7 for doing a once-a-week paper round delivering the local freebie. Takes him about an hour. He gets a little extra for doing leaflets - and lots of them at this time year. It's not a fortune but he doesn't mind doing it and it's all his money. HIs best mate (same age) earns around £15-20 most Saturdays for refereeing junior football matches.
15 years ago now but we used to earn £20 stuffing leaflets in the Sunday papers at the local printers - according to the adverts in my local rag they still need people.
The lad in my local Indian takeaway is 14 - he works 5-8pm one day a week and the Saturday lunchtime til tea time shift. (He's one of my pupils)
And the other big money maker round here is beating for the gamekeepers.
The lad in my local Indian takeaway is 14 - he works 5-8pm one day a week and the Saturday lunchtime til tea time shift. (He's one of my pupils)
And the other big money maker round here is beating for the gamekeepers.
bravonovember said:
Give him £20 and take him to the local wholesalers to buy sweets crisps etc to seel to his mates at school?
my 8 year old does that with glow sticks at the primary school disco, it costs us a pound for about 50 and he sells them for whatever he can get - sometimes wins, sometimes loses, but always gets plenty of sweets. Right little Arthur Daley.Slyjoe said:
my 8 year old does that with glow sticks at the primary school disco, it costs us a pound for about 50 and he sells them for whatever he can get - sometimes wins, sometimes loses, but always gets plenty of sweets. Right little Arthur Daley.Are there any yacht clubs near you?
If he can wield a paint roller without going over the lines, he could see if he can get work helping owners antifouling their yachts.
Dead easy.
He needs a sander, roller and tray (with smooth heads), gloves and a mask (the dust can be nasty)
Get the boat owner to supply the paint
Sand the old stuff till its smooth (to provide a good key, you don't need to take it all off), mark the waterline with masking tape and roller the new paint on everything that goes under water (except the electronic sensors, propshaft, propellor and anodes) takes 2-3 days and I used to get £50-£100 per boat (dependant on size).
3 or 4 boats in a fortnight = shiny new laptop
Neal
If he can wield a paint roller without going over the lines, he could see if he can get work helping owners antifouling their yachts.
Dead easy.
He needs a sander, roller and tray (with smooth heads), gloves and a mask (the dust can be nasty)
Get the boat owner to supply the paint
Sand the old stuff till its smooth (to provide a good key, you don't need to take it all off), mark the waterline with masking tape and roller the new paint on everything that goes under water (except the electronic sensors, propshaft, propellor and anodes) takes 2-3 days and I used to get £50-£100 per boat (dependant on size).
3 or 4 boats in a fortnight = shiny new laptop
Neal
It is perfectly legal for children to work from the age of 13. This can only be part time work. They cannot accept full time work until they reach school leaving age i.e. 16.
An exception is made for children who work in the theatre, TV or films. There is no lower age limit for these industries. Otherwise, many shows etc would be a bit difficult to make.
Children are taxed exactly like adults. If their earnings exceed the annual personal levels (currently £8,105) they will need to pay Income Tax. They are not liable to NI until they reach 16.
An exception is made for children who work in the theatre, TV or films. There is no lower age limit for these industries. Otherwise, many shows etc would be a bit difficult to make.
Children are taxed exactly like adults. If their earnings exceed the annual personal levels (currently £8,105) they will need to pay Income Tax. They are not liable to NI until they reach 16.
I looked into this in the summer for my 14 year old, but the forms that need to be completed and approved pretty much killed the idea..
IIRC the employer needs a child employment permit issued by the council. The child must have permission from the school in writing and I think also the local council and a parent , all in writing before they can work.
It basically stops kids from working , part of the council permit requires the business to do a risk assessment, H&S questionnaire and checks and oh lots of other stuff.
I was going to ask a mate of mine to give him a few hours a day at his garage doing tidying and sweeping etc in return form him learning basic mechanics (changing brake disks , servicing etc) and also pay him a small amount. But when we saw all the forms we had to abandon the idea - as the school holidays had just started and one form requires a signature from the head of the school it was a bit of a mission impossible.
IIRC the employer needs a child employment permit issued by the council. The child must have permission from the school in writing and I think also the local council and a parent , all in writing before they can work.
It basically stops kids from working , part of the council permit requires the business to do a risk assessment, H&S questionnaire and checks and oh lots of other stuff.
I was going to ask a mate of mine to give him a few hours a day at his garage doing tidying and sweeping etc in return form him learning basic mechanics (changing brake disks , servicing etc) and also pay him a small amount. But when we saw all the forms we had to abandon the idea - as the school holidays had just started and one form requires a signature from the head of the school it was a bit of a mission impossible.
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