For many employers, teenagers make ideal employees: They often have flexible schedules, rarely complain about benefits and you usually don’t have to pay them that much.

So with a labor shortage continuing to grip the country, teenagers are having no trouble at all stepping in and snagging summer jobs.

The unemployment rate for Americans aged 16 to 19 was just 9.9% in June — the lowest rate since 1953, when teens faced far less competition from automation and foreign workers for entry-level work.

Here’s why teen workers are having their day in the sun, and what grown-ups should do about it.

Adults seeking more meaningful work

When the pandemic struck last year, employees in the service and hospitality industries were hit especially hard.

Baristas and store clerks who relied on newly expanded jobless benefits had a lot of time to reflect — and some received more money while unemployed than they did working. Certain low-wage workers actually doubled their salaries.

So while the economy is making a comeback and many Americans are ready to return to their old lives, others aren’t so eager to return to lower wage or higher risk jobs.

With federal unemployment benefits slated to end Sept. 6, they’re taking this time to seek out more meaningful, more flexible and more lucrative jobs.

That’s not as hard as it used to be. Some advanced job boards use AI to match your current skills to great jobs you might never have known about. Other boards cater specifically to remote work or people looking for freelance gigs.

In the meantime, teenagers with limited experience but lots of time and enthusiasm are making bank. The labor shortage is allowing younger folks to command higher wages than usual, and some businesses are even offering bonuses and other incentives to attract them.

How to help your teens manage their money

Getting your first real paycheck is a pretty big deal. It’s tempting to blow it all on a large purchase, like a new phone or designer clothing — but parents should use this opportunity to teach financial literacy and establish good spending and saving habits early on.

Here’s how to get started:

Show them their banking options

Even if your teen already has a checking or savings account, present them with new options so they can reevaluate which one works best for them.

Student bank accounts can sometimes offer better perks or zero fees, but they aren’t the only ones worth looking at.

For example, you can suggest they park their earnings in a high-yield savings account rather than a traditional one. They might be able to rake in 50 times more interest than they would otherwise.

Get them building credit

It might not seem like an immediate concern, but young people often have a hard time getting good interest rates on credit cards, car loans, mortgages and other financial products. They simply haven’t had enough time to build up a good credit score.

Get them started now borrowing money on a credit card and paying it back each month. Once they've built up enough history, they can start monitoring their credit score for free online so they can track their progress.

Show them how to invest the right way

American teenagers have become a lot more interested in investing in the past year, thanks to the rise of meme stocks like Gamestop.

That’s wonderful news — but if you don’t want your kids getting stock picks from TikTok, step in and show them what responsible investing looks like.

It’s easier to focus on companies your teens know, like Apple and Amazon. Buying a full share of those behemoths can be extremely expensive, but so long as you use an app that offers fractional shares, they can invest as little or as much money as they want.

Remember, it’s never too early to start. In fact, some apps even offer investment services for younger kids, where you get to monitor and approve all of their trades.