The Government’s employment reforms mean even young people working just one day a week could receive up to 80 per cent of their pay when off sick. Some will naturally point to this as proof that young workers have less incentive to turn up to work, and instead pull sickies to get nearly all of their wage with none of the effort – but I think that argument misses the point entirely.

To understand why, you need to understand what it’s really like to be a young person in casual work. It’s not for the lazy. During my A-levels, I worked part-time at H&M, where I spent every weekend on the shop floor. After countless applications, it felt great to finally earn my own money and take the first step towards adult independence.

The fortnightly pay was definitely an added perk, and without responsibilities like rent and bills, my wages mainly went solely on travel, clothes and food. It was only when I turned 18, when I was no longer eligible for half-price travel in London, that suddenly my wages did not stretch as far.

After three months working there, my commuting costs became unjustifiable on my wage – a noticeable chunk had disappeared before I had even started my shift. And so I decided to move to a different company, increasing my hours from 12 a week to around 30 to earn the London Living Wage.

There were still issues to navigate, though. I worked with motivated young people, but many of us saw retail as a stop-gap, which also changed how much extra responsibility felt worth taking on.

At my new job, the pay difference between a team member and a team leader could be as little as £1 an hour, despite the extra responsibility. Working through winter also meant frequent closing shifts and going home in the dark, and our breaks were closely monitored.

Securing overtime felt like a competitive sport, too. It often meant saying “yes” when I was asked to stay late, cover someone else’s shift or work through my lunch break. But the overtime wasn’t guaranteed, and there was often no reward for always being the person willing to stay behind.

I still hear the same frustration from friends working in different sectors like hospitality, with the general consensus being: why take on more pressure for such a small increase in pay?

It becomes even trickier when balancing a part-time job with education, as many young people do. I was technically on a gap year, but I was juggling nearly 30 hours of work alongside two film courses. They ran throughout the week, as did my shifts, so I often had to choose between being flexible for work and attending courses I had committed to. I sometimes skipped shifts because I couldn’t afford to give up those opportunities.

It’s only got worse for young people. A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute, for example, found that students need £61,000 to maintain a minimum socially acceptable standard of living over a three-year degree, rising to £77,000 in London, excluding tuition fees. Meanwhile, nine in 10 university applicants now expect to work during term time.

Transport prices across the country have also risen drastically over the past five years, and since the pandemic, the cost of living has remained disproportionately high.

When you’re working part-time while also studying, life quickly becomes a cycle of work and sleep, with meals feeling like a luxury some days.

The “young people are lazy” argument also assumes that calling in sick is a reflection of someone’s attitude towards work as a whole. The question isn’t whether young people are hard-working or not, but whether these jobs feel worth it if a shift means expensive commuting, coming home exhausted and losing time to study or work towards something else.

At the same time, young people now have so many alternative ways of making money than previous generations. If someone can make £80 selling trainers online, or even more on a brand deal on social media, why spend eight hours working on a shop floor – especially when these alternatives offer greater flexibility and more autonomy?

Young people are hustling in every direction: studying, working, building careers, starting side businesses, making content, learning new skills. What has changed, however, is the relationship they have with traditional work. Until part-time jobs offer young workers more flexibility and a reason to stay committed, young people will become more likely to look for better options.