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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   30478 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 14, 2025

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One curious fact about teen summer employment rates is that Asian teens are least likely to have a job.

I'm assuming the main reason is that Asian-Americans are the least likely to belong to the working class or the underclass.

I am routinely rang up at my local Chinese restaurant by middle-schoolers, who a few years ago were visible hanging out in the back while their dad worked.

Perhaps they just don't work on the books?

Is this only happening during school breaks?

Yeah, weekends or evenings.

I see. Probably not on the books then.

Depends on the Asians, I know the stereotype of Indians/Pakistanis in the British Isles is "own the corner shop" (to the point where a 90s band named themselves that, their big hit) and for Chinese people it's "run the local takeaway".

In the US I suppose it's "Indians and Chinese work in IT, Koreans own the corner shops"?

Indians here do corner stores so much that '7/11(the most popular chain) or casino' is a synonym for 'dot or feather' when asking for clarification. Chinese and Koreans are notorious for owning restaurants.

This is a good point actually. I've knows a few Chinese American youths who spend a lot of their non-school time working at the restaurant their parents own. None of these kids were on the books as employed at all, and received pay to match.

A lot of kids get roped into working on the farm or working for the family business or wider family - we've just had two nieces of my boss doing some summer work here, in fact 😁 A few hours a week at much lower than regular pay, just to get them some pocket money and give them some work experience.

Plenty of Indians and Pakistanis own and/or run the convenience stores here too, hence the Apu character on the Simpsons; Koreans doing it are a local thing in some areas.

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