Different Options Available To Kids For Making Money

Most of the parents in today’s world agree to the fact that one of the best ways to help a kid grow is by preparing them for the outside world. It depends from family to family, when it comes to passing on values to their offspring. While some families value empathy, others value respect or kindness. But regardless of what work ethics the parents value the most, the one common things in all families is that that they want their child to be independent and have some work ethics to face the real world. That’s when the question arises, on how to teach your child about work ethics and responsibilities. It is when the concept of teens making money online, comes into the picture. So according to FLSA, the minimum working age is 14 and for anyone who is under 16, there is a limit to the number of hours they can work for. As the article proceeds, it would talk about the pros and cons of working teens and also how to make money as a teenager online?

Pros Of A Working Teenager

• A sense of responsibility is developed if a child starts working when he/she turns a teen
• It helps the teenager to be self-aware
• According to research, it is believed that the teens who work under 15 hours a week are the ones who get better grades
• It gives them a better understanding of personal finances and managing money.
• It helps them in a smooth transition from a child to an adult

Cons Of A  Working Teenager

• Not every teenager can handle the stress of jobs
• There are times when the teenager might encounter situations and people that they are not mentally ready for.
• Teens might feel that their life as a child is ending much before their age
• When comparing the kids who work for than 15 hours a week to those who do not work at all, the working teens have poorer grades
• Some kids might misuse the money they make like they can get involved in alcohol and tobacco

Should parents allow their kids in their teens to work?

Previous research has shown that despite having some disadvantages, letting a teenager work as a part-timer has a positive impact. But it is the parents that should help the kids balance the number of working hours, i.e not letting them work too much as it might invite unwanted pressure neither the working hour should be too low else there would be no positive impact. So before a child starts to work, it is the duty of the parents to see where they are working and make sure that their child does not work late nights and is not involved in any hazardous task. The parents should be more cautious when their child is working online, making sure they are not involved or are a victim, knowingly or unknowingly in any cybercrime. So, every parent should let their teenage kid work but at the same time should teach them to balance school, extracurricular and health alongside. The “United States Department of Labor” and the “Occupational Health and Safety Administration” have detail on their website about teenage employment and safety.

How to make money as a teen online and offline?

There are many ways through which kids can make money. While many offline jobs are available, in this covid times both, the guardians and the child looks for ways for teens to make money online. Below is a compiled list of all are the ways through which kids can make money.

1. Finding A Part-Time Job

There are many part-time jobs available in every neighborhood retail store and supermarket. These traditional jobs not only pay a decent salary but is also safe for teenagers.

2. Opening Etsy Shop

Any teenager who is creative, an artist or can make different things can sell their product on Etsy. Not only does it lets to earn money but brings out the true potential of the kid.

3. Selling Items

Selling second-hand items by clicking their picture or by recycling is one of the best ways for teenagers to make money online.

4. Selling Their Knowledge And Skills

Some teenagers are very good at studies, dancing, art, playing an instrument. One of the best ways to put this knowledge to use is by teaching people of younger age, the skill they are most confident about. Not only will it let to make money but their skills in that particular thing would also be enhanced.

5. House-Sitting Or Pet-Sitting

The US citizens might not be going out for long vacations but short work trips etc usually are always lined up. So it is when such people would want to hire someone to look after their pet or house. Even on a day-to-day or weekly basis, people hire kids to take their pets for a walk and bathe them once in a while.

6. Assisting Senior Citizens

There are many senior citizens who live alone and might need assistance. They will always be happy to pay teenagers if they help them in running errands, buying groceries, teaching about the digital world, etc. But during pandemic times, it is necessary to take extra precautionary measures like wearing masks, etc when taking care of old people.

7. Car Cleaning

One of the ways teenagers earn money is by becoming car detailers. They invest some money in microfibre towels, glass cleaners, car wash, wax, etc to start making money by cleaning and vacuuming the cars in their neighborhood.

8. Lawn Mowing Or Yard Work 

There are companies that help maintain the lawn but they charge a very high amount. So, if a teenager can arrange some gardening tools like a weed whacker, lawnmower, etc, the people in the neighborhood would be happy to pay them a decent amount.

9. Freelancing

A teenager who can design a website knows graphic designing, photoshop or any other creativity can always go for freelancing. 

Websites that give opportunities to teens for making money online

Below is a list of online jobs available for children under 18 that can be done in their own flexibility, be it after school hours, on weekends, etc.

• Teenagers can earn a lot of money by assisting in online surveys. Anyone who is 13 or above can go for the following website when it comes to taking online surveys:

• 1. Toluna- By signing up and answering survey questions, teenagers can earn a decent amount.
  2. Swagbucks- Swagbucks helps children aged thirteen and above to make money in different ways including playing games, surveys, cashback shopping, web searching, and referring friends.
  3. Survey Junkey- Another platform that allows teenagers to make money by taking part in surveys.
  4. Opinion Outpost- This is again for survey participation but on completing each survey, it allocates points to the user that can later be converted to gift cards, prizes, or cash.
  5. Paid Viewpoint- This survey can make a teenager earn a lot of money which they pay through PayPal.
  6. You Gov- This survey platform is only accessible for teens in Canada and the US  who are 16 and above.
  7. One Opinion- For teenagers of any age, this is one of the easiest platforms that pay money for taking part in surveys.
  8. Soap Box- Signing up for soapbox and taking part in surveys can let kids above 13 earn cash.

• Customer Service Representative jobs for teenagers

• 1. Uhaul- A teenager who is above 16 can get an opportunity to be a representative for customer service in Uhaul. The salary per hour ranges from USD 7.50 to USD 14. All one needs is internet with good speed and a USB headset of a nice quality.

• Ever heard about jobs where one gets money on reviewing music? The two websites below allow teens above 16 and even adults to make money for the same.

• 1. Slice the Pice- The platforms pay money to teenagers above 17 just for listening to songs. USD 0.05 to USD 0.20 is paid for listening to every single track. The money is paid every week through PayPal and mostly on Tuesdays and Fridays and USD 10 is the minimum payment amount.
  2. MusicXray- The payment base is the same for MusicXray as that for Slice the Pice. One has to listen and give feedback to certain song tracks.

• Tutoring is one of the best jobs for teenagers that allows making money

• 1. SameSpeak- Any teenager who is above 16 and has English as their first language can sign up for SameSpeak.  For a session every 30 minutes, the teenage tutor is paid USD 10.
  2. Tutor Care- This platform hires high school-going students as well as college students. The children can earn money for various things including answering questions for homework, providing tutoring sessions online and offline, uploading videos, etc.
  3. HappyTutors.com- This is an online community for teachers of all ages. But here, it completely depends on the client to choose the tutor based on their profile.

• A teenager who is good with handling kids can always opt for babysitting

1. 1. Care.com and Sitter City are two reliable platforms for babysitters job that pays somewhat between USD 15 – 20 every hour.

• There is no harm in making some money by selling books that are no more of use

• 1. Bookscouter- This platform lets to sell books by getting the best price as it compares it from 30 vendors all over the world.

• Getting paid for writing is one of the most exciting jobs a teen can have. Many websites hire teenagers as freelancers if they have a good command of language and are ready to be creative and do some research.

• 1. Hubpages- With the consent of the guardian, teenagers below eighteen can also sign up for HubPages and become freelance writers.
  2. Helium- Children above 13 can get paid for writing for Helium and bring out their writing creativity.

• There are many online platforms that allow teenagers to make money for doing micro jobs

• 1. Jingit- Anyone who is of the age of thirteen or above can sign up to Jingit and get paid simply for watching advertisements. The platform allows to make extra money as well if one downloads their application, take part in short surveys, and scanning items from Walmart.
  2. Fiverr- A teenager can signup for multiple jobs that are under USD 5 and receive USD 3.80 on completing each task. There are various tasks available including writing, graphic designing, etc. The money is received through bank transfer, Payoneer, or PayPal.
  3. Amazon Turk- Though this platform doesn’t pay much one can earn USD 25 per month.
  4. Humanitic- This platform pays money when someone reviews the quality of a call. All one needs to do is answer questions after listening to a call.
  5. Crowdsource- Translation, data entry, and writing are among the many tasks available for a teen to complete in Crowdsource. The payment is not very high but it gives a lot of scopes to learn.
  6. Qmee- This extension needs to be downloaded on the browser to get access. So on seeing every advertisement, and then further opening it, one can earn money that will be deposited in PayPal.

Apart from the above websites, there are many other jobs and platform that is best for teenage jobs. One of the most reliable ways to look for jobs for teens is through Indeed. All that one needs to do is type teenage jobs in the search panel and then customize the result and apply for the most appropriate one.