Regardless of how much any teen cares about their after school job, it's just that: an after school job.
This opinion of service work expressed in the OP doesn't seem to realize that if we restricted these jobs to only the people who don't "need" a living wage, then there would be no fast food for lunch, no quick trips to the store during school hours, and no starbucks in the morning on the way to work during the school year. If you want the convenience of near instant food and services at any time of the day, then you need to pay the price of giving the workers a living wage (or we end up where we are today)
It's not that they wouldn't exist during the school year they wouldn't exist at ALL and while some are non essential like fast food many of them are essential to the existence of our lives and economy.
Regardless of how much any teen cares about their after school job, it's just that: an after school job.
This opinion of service work expressed in the OP doesn't seem to realize that if we restricted these jobs to only the people who don't "need" a living wage, then there would be no fast food for lunch, no quick trips to the store during school hours, and no starbucks in the morning on the way to work during the school year. If you want the convenience of near instant food and services at any time of the day, then you need to pay the price of giving the workers a living wage (or we end up where we are today)
It's not that they wouldn't exist during the school year they wouldn't exist at ALL and while some are non essential like fast food many of them are essential to the existence of our lives and economy.