DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data, released last week, continues to paint a dismal picture of youth employment trends. After three decades of rapid and dramatic decline in teens working, two entrepreneurs are creating a new way for teens to connect to work with Skratch, a mobile platform that enables teens to participate in the gig economy.
While there was a slight uptick in youth participation in the workforce during summer 2018, the overall participation of youth in today’s labor market continues to be down. Summer youth labor force participation peaked in July 1989 at 77.5 percent and has trended down since. This year, 55 percent of young people were employed over the summer.
“It’s not that teens are lazy. That’s a very common misperception,” said Scott Bennett, co-founder and CEO of Skratch. “To the contrary, they’re overworked with non-paying, college application-building commitments, to their detriment. Work experience pays dividends in the development of critical life skills like accountability, financial management and people skills.”
The Skratch solution
Ronen Akiva is Skratch’s co-founder and CTO. At 16, his son was ready to work. He had a social life; he wanted a pick up a little scratch to pay for it. But commitments through school left little time for the requisite four-hour shift at the mall or a restaurant. Recognizing the value of work experience, Akiva and Bennett hatched the idea for Skratch.
Studies show that teens working is of critical importance. Employment Policy Institute research shows clear evidence that part-time work as a high school senior translates to future career benefits including: higher hourly wages, increased annual earnings, and less time spent out of work. The Harvard Graduate School of Education now advocates that colleges place more weight on students' contributions to communities and less on academic achievements when making admissions decisions.
How Skratch works
Skratch connects teens with odd jobs within their zip codes. (Currently in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.) Job “sponsors” post a need through the app. They’re given a host of categories to choose from - pet care, work with kids (creative arts, tutoring, coaching, etc.), household jobs, tech support, event support and more. They then are matched with teens in the area who are qualified and available. Sponsors are subject to safety screening. Teens are rated by previous job sponsors who can also provide feedback to and on the teen. Likewise, the teen worker can rate the job sponsor.
Built from scratch, today Skratch has over 8,000 users and has been met with rave reviews. Teens are happily earning scratch and developing valuable life sills. Job sponsors are thrilled to have on-demand access to inexpensive support for scratching things off of their to-do lists.
