Lots of teenagers want to earn their own money. Many start out babysitting for friends' or have a news paper round before moving on to the many jobs provided for under 18s in supermarkets, cafés, cinemas, bowling and other sports facilities just to mention a few.
There are strict rules and regulations around jobs for under 18s, and if you are interested you can learn more on these pages (all in Danish):
Jobpatruljen is an informative service for under 18s holding a spare time job. Amongst other initiatives, they visit workplaces having employees under the age of 18 to ensure rules and regulations are met.
By law (Værgemålsloven §42) all money earned after a child's 15th birthday belongs to the child, and parents cannot decide what these are spent or not spent on.
Not only will your child learn the value of money, they will develop competence in new areas, mature and grow in confidence.
Earning your own money, saving up and being mindful of how you spend them will not only teach your teenager the value of money, it will also allow them to start making a budget and to prioritise: If I want to buy a new phone, I may not be able to afford going out with my friends every weekend. This allows them to prioritise and to experience the satisfaction of saving up for wished for items and experiences.
They will acquire new skills such as time keeping carrying out boring tasks, finishing tasks, socialising with people older than themselves, workplace ethics, jargon and politeness, planning, discipline etc. All skills they can benefit from in school, further studies and when they have their first "real" adult job.
Adding to this, they will have first hand experience with the banking system, netbank, MobilePay and the responsibilites that come with these. Learning the value of money, budgetting and prioritising can help them understand that taking out quick and high interest loans isn't helpful longer term - as such, having a spare time job can help them make better financial decisions when they become adults.
All this adds to their maturity, enhances their sense of responsibility and independence. Furthermore, it allows them to grow confident of becoming contributing members of society - both in the workplace itself and in society as a greater community.
