Adolescents' perceptions of the role of part-time work

In contrast to the U.S., research on child employment in Britain has been relatively rare. This paper reports the findings from a study in which 1,220 students, 12-16 years of age, in two comparable schools in England and Scotland completed questionnaires on their employment. While the nature and extent of employment were assessed by means of a questionnaire, a sub-sample of students (N = 56) participated in interviews to provide more detailed information on their experience of employment. Results indicate that Green (1990) may have been overly optimistic in arguing against the negative stereotype of the student worker, at least as far as the United Kingdom is concerned. Although students may be able to control whether they work, the interview data indicate that they have little control over their work environment and do not always view employment in a positive light.