Summer is so different this year. That's especially true for young people, who, depending on their ages, look forward to just messing around, going to camp or getting a job.
Most kiddos already have been messing around for months. Hey, parents who are trying to telecommute (or really commute if they have essential jobs) and also home school during a global pandemic can only do so much!
On the camp front, many overnight camps are still closed, but some day camps are open or planning to, with appropriate social distancing and other coronavirus precautions, of course.
The best news in the coming months, though, is for job-seeking youths. But it likely won't arrive until later in this hottest of seasons.
COVID-crashed summer jobs: Ann Carrns, in today's New York Times' Your Money Adviser column, reports that, as with everything, the pandemic has had an adverse effect on this summer's hiring, at least at the beginning of the season.
That outlook is based on a new report from the Drexel University Center for Labor Markets and Policy.
The report predicts that just 23 percent of U.S. job seekers aged 16 to 19 will find work this summer. That's a historic low because the places that tend to hire young people for the summer — hotels, restaurants and amusement outlets — are having their own pandemic problems.
Plus, older people who've been fired or furloughed from their full-time jobs also now are part of the potential employee pool.
The Center annually examines summer work prospects because, as the report notes, employing teens is important, not just to them, but for the overall U.S. economy.
Among the reasons cited by the university is that work experience provides young people with social skills, such as learning to work in an adult context with other staff and supervisors, meet and deal with adult customers, and develop relevant skills to negotiate these relationships at work.
Plus, say the folks at Drexel, early work experience can help young workers to go beyond entry-level jobs and work at a young age begets a more stable lifelong work history.
Some summer jobs, but later: Still, the New York Times' article and the Drexel report see some hope as the lazy, hazy days wear on.
Typically, writes Carrns, businesses hire for summer jobs from April through early June, with a peak in May. This year, hiring will probably extend into July.
You can find more on the COVID-impacted summer jobs' outlook in Carrns' story and the Drexel report, which are this weekend's Saturday Shout Outs.
Happy weekend reading!
Tax tips for successful job seekers: And for all y'all who are able to find a job this summer, here are some tax tips you might want to check out now, plus others to use during next year's tax filing season when you have to report your 2020 summer earnings.
- Decoding your W-2
- The many versions of IRS Form 1099
- Report all your income even if you don't get a 1099
- Tips are taxable income
- Payroll taxes: who pays, how much and how if self-employed
- 5 tax tips for freelancers, gig economy workers
- IRS gig economy tax tips for all side hustlers, even TV stars
- Adjusting your payroll withholding
- Making estimated income tax payments
- Employee or contractor? IRS guidelines on when each work status applies
- Who must file a tax return
- 10 reasons to file a tax return even if you don't have to
| Coronavirus Caveat & More Information In 2020, we're all dealing with extraordinary circumstances, both in our daily lives and when it comes to our taxes. The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to reduce its transmission and protect ourselves and our families means that, for the most part, we're focusing on just getting through these trying days. But life as we knew it before the coronavirus will return, along with our mundane tax matters. Here's hoping that happens soon! In the meantime, you can find more on the virus and its effects on our taxes by clicking Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes. |
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