For decades, most American teens worked summer jobs — not Gen Z

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So much for scooping ice cream, if you’re in Gen Z.

Only about a third of American teenagers had summer jobs this year, compared to more than half three decades ago, new research shows. 

Fewer Gen Zers are donning embarrassing uniforms to work for peanuts in the heat, with just 35.5% of 16-to-19-year-olds holding gigs this summer, according to the Pew Research Center.

By contrast, more than half of teens had summer jobs in 1996, according to the researchers, who analyzed federal unemployment numbers.

Still, the amount of teens with jobs in June and July was up a couple percentage points from last year’s 33.8% — with roughly 19,500 more teens working, according to the data.

Economists blamed the overall summer job slump on the fact that there are fewer low-skill, entry-level jobs than in past decades, according to the report.

More teens are also taking high school and college classes over the summer instead of suffering through the sweaty, character-building gigs, they said.

This summer, most teens worked food service jobs, followed by jobs in the sales and transportation trades, according to the data.

Teen summer employment has shrunk dramatically over the past quarter century —  especially after the dot-com bust and during the Great Recession of 2008, researchers said.

During the pandemic in summer 2020, the teen employment rate dropped to 30.8% as stores and restaurants shuttered. 

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Data from the past roughly 50 years, shows the most teenagers worked in the summer of 1978 with 58% holding jobs.