Topic Proposal

In general, teenagers have been having an extremely difficult time finding jobs in the recent economy. There are many factors that contribute to this, and they have extremely harmful effects on teenagers and their future in getting a job and earning higher salaries. I feel as though teenage waitressing is a major job that involves this problem, and I would like to focus on this for my research hypertext.  When looking for their first job, teenagers are almost always going to get paid low wage. Their inexperience makes them unappealing to many businesses, so they are often times the last people to be hired. Waitressing is a fairly common job that teenagers begin with, which I think has become a serious problem. The hierarchy within a low wage employed restaurant is often times corrupt and the cruelty of managers is an extreme issue (Ehrenreich 22).  Ehrenreich describes how the managers are often times former cooks or employees of the restaurant, and all they care about is making money. This demonstrates the difficulty of getting a better job in the future. Once you start off as a low wage waitress it is hard to move up the ladder and earn higher salaries. Those at the bottom of the chain in a restaurant can move slightly up the chain, but that does not earn them much more money, and it is hard to find a job outside of that restaurant or industry. Another thing that I would like to focus on is the abuse that occurs in a low wage environment. Physical, verbal, and sexual abuse is often times common, especially in a tense and low wage working environment. The depression and frustration of getting paid low wage can make workers angry and violent, which they often times will take out on their co-workers. This most commonly happens to male workers who take it out on the younger females. The anger can also carry into their home life as shown in the story of sexual abuse in The Working Poor (Shipler 58). The disadvantages and dangers of teens working in a low wage waitressing environment are prominent and I feel need to be brought to greater public attention.

Work Cited:

            Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed. New York: Henry Holt and Company,             2001.

            Shipler, David K. The Working Poor. New York: Vintage Books, 2004