Is it worth it?
It's summertime and teens are hard at work earning some extra cash for school or for personal spending. No harm done, right? Well according to a recent CNNmoney article, some of these jobs are not worth the cost or the risk. Landscaping is the number one most dangerous job for teens while others include door to door selling of items. If these jobs are so dangeroous, then why do the teens choose them instead of working at another employer such as a grocery store? The landscaping business and other jobs owners pay a higher price for the teenagers' services. What is the real opportunity cost here? Is an extra 1.60 USD per hour worth losing your life? Many think so and as long as they do, then these jobs will continue.
P.S. The owners could lower the price of the wage tehy are paying then use that money to update and make safer their equipment.
1 comment:
Wage rates differ across jobs for a number of reasons that can all be categorized as either supply or demand side factors. On the supply side, the number of individuals willing and able to work in the landscaping business depends on how dangerous the job is perceived to be. Employers will have to offer higher wage rates to compensate for the increased risk involved with such jobs. Doug raises an interesting tradeoff with such jobs: How much pay are you willing to sacrifice in order to have a safer job? I suspect some people would not be willing to sacrifice much at all--these people are likely to be risk takers that would prefer the cash over any increased safety.
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