Hazards and scarcity of summer jobs for youth

The summer months provide many young people opportunities to earn and learn, but in certain occupations, summer jobs can result in injury and sometimes even death, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Division of Information and Marketing Services.

From 2003 to 2009, a total of 401 workers between the ages of 16 and 20 were fatally injured on the job during the summer months. This comprises about a third of the 1,239 fatal injuries in this age group for all months during this 7-year period.

Of the fatalities involving younger workers during summer employment, about a third occurred in construction and extraction occupations. This occupation group accounted for a considerably higher percentage of fatal injuries for 16 to 20-year-olds than for workers aged 21 and over in the summer months.

The occupations accounting for the second and third largest shares of 16-20 year old worker fatalities during summer months were transportation and materials-moving occupations (14 percent) and farming, forestry and fishing occupations (12 percent). The unemployment rate for young men was consistently higher than that for young women between July 2007 and July 2010.

During the summer, employment in industries that generally hire more men than women (such as construction and manufacturing) has declined more than employment in industries that tend to employ more women than men (such as education and health care). Unemployment among white youths tended to be below that of black and Hispanic youth, as has been typical of their older counterparts. Unemployment among all youth groups was up markedly between 2007 and 2010.