Employment Dangers for Teens

The National Consumers League (NCL) has issued its 2011 Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens report. The annual study by the nonprofit advocacy group is designed to help teens and their parents select safe jobs this summer—if they can find them.

According to an analysis by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies published in April, the number of working teens has fallen dramatically since 2000, when 45 of every 100 teenagers held summer jobs. By 2010, that number was 26—a drop of 40 percent. The good news is that high unemployment rates, along with health and safety education efforts, have caused the number of teen death to trend slowly downward. The fatality rate for workers under 24 fell 14 percent during the 10-year period that ended in 2007.