Pocket money is cancelled: Why kids are ditching traditional jobs for the internet

Traditional after-school and summer jobs are harder to get, worse to keep, and increasingly automated. Here’s why Gen Z and A are turning to online income instead.

Pocket money used to come from weekend shifts, paper routes, and begging the local café for a three-hour slot after school. 

Today? Kids can’t even get in the door. 

USA Today reports teen unemployment has jumped to 13.1%, and teens are now competing with laid-off adults and recent grads for the same tiny pool of roles. Huh?!

Meanwhile, managers openly admit they’re hesitant to hire young workers at all.

And for the young people who do get hired? Job satisfaction has plunged to the lowest levels in decades, with under-25s reporting mental-health scores similar to unemployed peers.

So are kids really ditching work because they’re unmotivated? Or are they ditching work because the traditional job market ditched them first?

The teen job market is collapsing – but it’s not their fault

Getting your first weekend or after-school part-time job was a rite of passage. Now? It’s more like winning a prize.

Positions that used to specifically seek out young workers (retail, hospitality, amusement parks) have either slowed hiring or automated the bulk of available jobs.

I mean, think about it. 

Supermarket self-serve checkouts replaced cashiers. Fast food ordering kiosks replaced counter staff. 

Eventually, reduced hours replaced ‘help wanted’ signs, as owners scrambled to cut costs.

And even worse? When jobs do open up, teens aren’t competing with peers anymore. 

They’re competing with laid-off adults, recent graduates, and workers trying to rebuild careers disrupted by economic uncertainty or post-pandemic layoffs. 

Teens are the last to be hired and the first to be fired.

- Alicia Sasser Modestino, labor economist at Northeastern University.

So why are we blaming kids for not getting hired when even adults with degrees can’t get callbacks?

It’s not laziness, it’s survival

Man, older generations love the same-old narratives: “Kids these days don’t want to work”. 

But is that even true?

When you actually look at the data, Gen Z and A aren’t avoiding work altogether – they’re avoiding a system that’s not serving them.

Forbes found over 25% of executives won’t consider recent grads because they “lack soft skills” (y'know, ones that they were never given the chance to develop). 

Remote school, lockdowns, zero real-life networking for years – then suddenly you’re supposed to know how to lead meetings and handle conflict?

Come on. Make it make sense.

And here’s something really wild: A National Bureau of Economic Research paper found young workers feel just as unhappy in their jobs as they do when unemployed. 

Not because they hate effort, but because most entry-level jobs = low-support and low-growth.

Plus, getting hired is its own circus. 

19 out of 20 of my interviews were with bots.

- Columbia student Richard Yoon 

This shift isn’t kids avoiding work – it’s young people choosing what actually works for them. 

If one path feels blocked and another feels wide open, of course, they’re going to take the open one.

In this case, that path is the internet. 

Young people aren’t just chasing cash, they’re chasing control

Traditional work didn’t just get harder to access; it also stopped offering the things young people actually value: stability, autonomy, purpose, flexibility, and a fair exchange of effort.

The Guardian reports Gen Z’s distrust of institutions is at an all-time high after years of watching companies lay off loyal employees overnight, slash hours, or disappear entirely. 

They’ve seen firsthand (with themselves, family members, or colleagues), that working hard and being rewarded isn’t a guarantee; it’s more of a marketing slogan.

And workplace culture hasn’t helped, either:

NYT journalists found that today’s entry-level roles often come with intense micromanagement, surveillance software, and metrics that track keystrokes (but ignore actual output). 

Young workers aren’t imagining it: managers really are expecting them to do six jobs in a 40-hour week, with little mentorship (and even less stability).

Compared to that? Online income feels like freedom:

• You set the schedule instead of asking for one
• You choose the work instead of waiting for a callback from a bot
• You control the effort-to-income ratio (not a manager, not a shift lead, not an algorithm)
• You build skills that actually compound, instead of cleaning tables for $12 an hour

The proof is everywhere: Young people see other young people make money online, and they know it’s possible. 

I saw so many young people on social media just making money. The women that I looked up to weren’t relying on anyone.

- Jaz Green, Amazon FBA Seller and Whop creator

Their peers are earning from UGC, digital assets, micro-niche products, gaming services, and creative side hustles that never existed a decade ago. 

There’s no interview, no résumé, no years of “experience” required – just output.

And lazy or unmotivated? I don’t think so. Deloitte found 89% of Gen Z workers say purpose matters more than prestige. 

Online work gives them both. They can earn, experiment, build something real, and actually protect their peace.

The new first job economy: What kids are doing online to earn money

Where traditional jobs are shrinking, glitchy, and half-automated?

The online economy is the exact opposite: expanding, chaotic, permissionless, and tailor-made for young people who grew up learning by doing. 

And unlike the old after-school job model, online income isn’t just about earning pocket money – it’s building technical, creative, and entrepreneurial skills long before a boss would ever give them a chance.

Here are the income paths young people are turning to instead:

1. Content editing, clipping, and short-form production

Kids who grew up on TikTok know how attention works. They’ve spent years absorbing it. 

They understand content, hooks, pacing, colour, energy shifts, meme references, and how to compress a story into eight seconds.

So creators, small businesses, streamers, and even coaches hire them. Not out of charity, either – out of need. Teens edit in a style adults can’t naturally replicate.

A boring talking-head clip becomes a punchy, scroll-stopping reel in the hands of a 14-year-old who knows how to layer subtitles, sound cues, and visual humour. 

And beyond the money, editing teaches real professional skills: communicating with clients, taking briefs, handling revisions, meeting deadlines, building a visual identity, and reading analytics.

It’s everything a traditional entry-level job claims to teach, except this one actually does.

2. UGC and affiliate content

A teen can film an unboxing, a try-on, a short tutorial, or a simple “here’s how this works” clip on their phone and get paid for it. 

And because UGC doesn’t require followers? It became one of the easiest income streams for young people to step into. 10.5% of teens earn through social content creation.

Affiliate content runs alongside this because it rewards effort, not credentials. 

Kids share Amazon finds, desk setups, skincare routines, book recs, or dorm-room organisers and earn small commissions when someone buys. 

But the real value isn’t just in the payout, it’s in the practice. 

UGC teaches how to communicate with brands, refine feedback, storyboard short content, understand pacing, and deliver files that perform on TikTok or Reels. 

It’s hands-on marketing experience, without the corporate ladder or the unpaid internship energy.

3. Reselling

Reselling is one of the most accessible online income streams because it doesn’t require an audience or a platform, only an eye for what people want. 

Teens buy underpriced items, clean them up, photograph them well, and flip them on Depop, Vinted, eBay, Grailed, Facebook Marketplace, or local buy/sell groups.

What used to be garage sale money is now closer to running a full-on retail operation. 20.1% of young kids who make money online do it by flipping new or vintage clothes. 

Kids track trends in vintage clothing, sneakers, discontinued cosmetics, small electronics, or niche collectibles. 

They figure out which items move quickly, what styles hold value, and how to price competitively without racing to the bottom.

Most of the work happens behind the scenes: answering buyer messages, negotiating politely, packaging orders, handling returns, and learning how to avoid scams. 

Resellers learn how to photograph products, write clear listings, estimate shipping, understand demand cycles, and build a small but steady profit stream. 

It’s practical, independent, and (unlike most part-time jobs) actually builds long-term and transferable skills.

4. Freelance micro-skills

A lot of teens are able to build freelancing careers before they even finish college, offering small, practical skills that businesses genuinely need. 

These aren’t usually full-scale freelance roles; they’re tiny, specific tasks young people can knock out quickly and learn as they go.

Some teens format spreadsheets or clean up Google Docs for small businesses. Others help teachers or local creators with Canva graphics, captions, simple web updates, podcast show notes, newsletter drafts, or repurposing someone’s old content into a fresh format. 

It’s quiet, flexible work most adults don’t have time for – and young people are fast, comfortable with tools, and affordable.

This is the kind of practical work that builds confidence early, teaching communication skills, time management, how to take feedback calmly, and how to price time without undercutting. 

5. Coaching

Coaching doesn’t look like tutoring anymore. 

Young people are running coaching setups online with session bookings, notes, resources, screen shares, and simple onboarding, all stitched together with the kind of tech fluency adults pretend to have.

It’s not a little side-help; it’s an actual micro-business that just happens to live in DMs, Calendly links, and private calls.

And it works because the coach is close enough in age to be relatable, but far enough ahead to actually guide someone. 

No weird power dynamics, no awkwardness: just someone who learned something recently showing someone else the shortcuts.

They onboard clients cleanly. They track progress. They actually care about outcomes. And they know how to make the whole thing feel human, not corporate.

6. Simple SaaS and apps

Young builders aren’t sitting around waiting to break into tech; they’re already making it. 

Some of the most interesting SaaS products right now are coming from people barely out of high school: tiny tools, study apps, AI scripts, Discord bots, homework helpers, aesthetic timers, niche calculators, and editing utilities. 

And the thing is, it’s normal now. 

If you scroll TikTok or YouTube long enough, you’ll find teens learning front-end through vibe coding, reverse-engineering their favourite apps, or shipping their first MVPs just because they were bored after school. 

Origami Agents is a startup run by 20-somethings grinding 17-hour days out of a Hayes Valley apartment. 

One of their founding engineers, Connor Burd, built a poker-tracking app in college that made around $700,000 a year.

By his own words, it scaled far enough that he “would never have to get a job.” 

That level of output used to be a Silicon Valley anomaly. Now it’s quietly becoming a blueprint for younger builders, especially Gen Z and A kids who realise software doesn’t need a big team, just a problem worth fixing.

7. Communities

Kids aren’t just hanging out in communities; they’re running them. 

They manage ticket systems, oversee role structures, moderate conversations, onboard new members, coordinate collaborations, and maintain the overall health of the space. 

In traditional workplaces, this exact skillset sits under titles like Community Lead, CX Manager, or Engagement Specialist – but these roles barely give young people a chance. 

But because Gen Z and A grew up inside these environments, they intuitively understand what keeps a community alive: tone, culture, pacing, boundaries, incentives, etc.

They know when a server is dying long before the analytics show it, and they know how to fix it by adjusting channels, running micro-events, tightening moderation, or introducing new rituals.

Creators, small businesses, and even early-stage startups increasingly pay young people to help run their online servers. 

8. Digital products

Digital products today go way beyond ebooks and templates. 

Gen Z and A create micro-products rooted in culture, aesthetics, humour, fandom, and identity: assets that feel small but land big. 

Wallpapers, icon packs, AI prompts, sourdough baking guides, cosplay patterns, niche guides, Notion docs, crochet templates, PNG bundles, editing presets, printable posters. You get the idea. 

These are tiny, often self-expressive projects that cost nothing to reproduce.

They work because young creators understand the emotional logic behind internet culture.

They know exactly what a buyer wants to express in their lockscreen, their journaling routine, their gaming setup, their study layout, and their online persona. 

And they can design for that instantly: A single file made in an afternoon can quietly generate income for months, sometimes years.

But more importantly, it teaches skills that compound fast: how to package an idea, how to brand a small asset, how to make something feel premium even if it’s tiny.

Young people still want to work and earn – just on their own terms

Job search burnout is real – and it’s even harder when you’re fighting a losing battle.

Kids pushed to earn online have applied to places that never replied. Bots have screened them out. They’ve been told they lack skills they haven’t even had the chance to develop. 

So they adapted.

Everything young people are doing online (editing, coaching, flipping, coding, moderating, designing, building, selling) isn’t avoidance. It’s problem-solving. 

It’s the same instinct generations before them had, just expressed through different tools.

And frankly, the outcomes speak for themselves:

Young entrepreneurs are learning how to communicate, how to build, how to negotiate, how to manage clients, how to ship projects, how to design for users, how to run small systems, and how to solve real-world problems. 

Ironically, these are the exact skills workplaces claim young people lack. 

What kids are doing now isn’t rebellion, and it certainly isn’t delusion.

It’s the simplest definition of work: doing something valuable and getting paid for it.

Build, ship, and sell your first business idea with Whop

From Pokémon trading card communities to Labubu restock alerts, content agencies to micro-SaaS, young builders on Whop are already turning their ideas into real, functioning offers. 

I’m talking actual products, services, and communities that make more sense (and often more money) than the old paper-route or ice-cream-shop pattern ever did. 

If you’ve got an idea, skill, obsession, system, tool, product, or something you’re already helping people with?

There’s a way to package, market, and sell it on Whop. 

We’ll give you a clean place to host everything securely: payments, access, messaging, files, bookings, communities, and whatever else your idea needs. 

No gatekeeping, no monthly fees, no startup cost. You launch, test, and refine – we only earn when you do.

Experiment early, ship fast, learn faster. Join Whop for free.