In Germany, young people from wealthier families have a part-time job more often than young people from poorer households. Because according to the IW study, contacts between the parents play a decisive role.
Many young people in Germany work alongside school or during the holidays: In the years 2018 to 2020, 41.7 percent of 17-year-olds had a part-time job, like one does today study published by the German Economic Institute (IW) emerges in Cologne.
After that, however, it is mainly young people from the higher social classes. While 52 percent of 17-year-olds from wealthy families worked part-time, the proportion of young people from less well-off families was only 31.5 percent.
Contacts of the parents as a possible key
“One possible explanation for the positive correlation between family income and young people’s employment experience lies in the parents’ social networks,” explained IW study author Wido Geis-Thöne. Richer mothers and fathers are more likely to have contacts with people who could give their children jobs.
This connection was particularly evident among young people with at least one self-employed parent: around 61 percent of them had experience with part-time jobs. 17-year-olds whose parents held managerial positions in companies also went to work comparatively often (54 percent). In contrast, the proportion of young people without working parents was only 19 percent.
Learning effect for later professional life
According to the IW, young people already benefit from part-time jobs when they later start working life: “A part-time job that suits their other circumstances can help young people to learn and practice skills and abilities relevant to the labor market.”
For the study, the institute analyzed data from the socio-economic panel, a representative repeat survey of private households.