Do you know a lot of high school kids who have a summer job? Neither do we.
The percentage of Texas high school students who spend their summer at work has fallen from 78% in the 1970s to fewer than 40% today.
Economist Ray Perryman says there are several reasons for the decline of the Great American Summer Job, and that includes both supply side and demand side factors.
"Overall labor force participation rates have dropped for every age group, and that is one factor that comes into play," he said.
He says one thing that has discouraged teenagers from seeking out a summer job is the skyrocketing cost of college.
"In today's world, realistically, the amount that can be contributed to the cost of college is relatively small as a percentage of the total," Perryman said. "There was a time when if you had a summer job, you could pay for a good part of the upcoming college year. That is no longer the case."
In fact, the graph showing the decline in summer teen jobs is almost a mirror of the graph showing the increase in student loan debt, from the 1970s until today.
Perryman also blames higher minimum wages, which discourage employers from hiring unskilled teens to do what is essentially a training job.
"For what they have to pay for the level of skill and level of training required, it doesn't make sense for employers to hire teenages the way they used to."
But he says the supply of summer jobs is dwindling as well. For example, retail is hiring far fewer summertime employees today as they did in the 1970s, as many retail outlets vanish.
Other jobs that used to be done by summer help have simply vanished, due to automation.
One positive factor. Despite a lot of talk about stagnating family wages, the economic status of most American families has improved since the 1970s, and welfare and support programs have increased. This has made it less essential for teenagers to do what teenagers have done since the concept of 'wage work' emerged in the 18th Century..go to work to help support the family.