Consuming Work
eBook - PDF

Consuming Work

Youth Labor in America

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Consuming Work

Youth Labor in America

About this book

Youth labor is an important element in our modern economy, but as students' consumption habits have changed, so too have their reasons for working. In Consuming Work, Yasemin Besen-Cassino reveals that many American high school and college students work for social reasons, not monetary gain. Most are affluent, suburban, white youth employed in part-time jobs at places like the Coffee Bean so they can be associated with a cool brand, hangout with their friends, and get discounts.
 
Consuming Work offers a fascinating picture of youth at work and how jobs are marketed to these students. Besen-Cassino also shows how the roots of gender and class inequality in the labor force have their beginnings in this critical labor sector.
 
Exploring the social meaning of youth at work, and providing critical insights into labor and the youth workforce, Consuming Work contributes a deeper understanding of the changing nature of American labor.

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Yes, you can access Consuming Work by Yasemin Besen-Cassino in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Labour & Industrial Relations. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Consuming 
Work 
3
percent, 
respectively), 
and 
only 
23.9 
percent 
of 
working 
youth 
come 
from 
the 
lowest 
socioeconomic 
status 
backgrounds. 
(See 
Figure 
1.2.)
us, 
contrary 
to 
popular 
views, 
the 
majority 
of 
youth 
who 
work 
do 
not 
come 
from 
economically 
deprived 
backgrounds 
(Herz 
and 
Kosanovich 
2000; 
D. 
Johnson 
and 
Lino 
2000). 
What 
sets 
the 
current 
youth 
labor 
force 
apart 
and 
renders 
it 
unique 
is 
its 
unprecedented 
and 
counterintuitive 
composition. 
FIGURE 
1.1
Percentage 
of 
Youth 
Working, 
by 
Socioeconomic 
Status
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Youth 
Working 
(%)
Upper
Middle
Skilled
Unskilled
Family 
Socioeconomic 
Status
FIGURE 
1.2
Composition 
of 
Youth 
Workforce, 
by 
Socioeconomic 
Status
Unskilled
23.9%
Skilled
20.2%
Middle
11.9%
Upper
44.0%

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. 1. Consuming Work: Introduction to Youth Work in America
  4. 2. “Would You Like an Application with Your Coffee?”
  5. 3. Fun or Exploitation? : The Lived Experience of Suburban Youth Work
  6. 4. Pay or Play? : The Youth Labor Force in the United States and Other Industrialized Countries
  7. 5. “They Need Me Here”: Work as a Perceived Alternative to School
  8. 6. “White, Young, Middle Class” : Aesthetic Labor, Race, and Class in the Youth Labor Force
  9. 7. Origins of the Gender Wage Gap: Gender Inequality in the Youth Labor Force
  10. 8. Conclusion: The Economic Recession and the Future of Youth Labor
  11. Appendix: Notes on Methodology
  12. References
  13. Index