With another snowstorm expected this Friday, one must ask: whatever happened to the snow-shoveling youths of yesteryear?
Have they all gone on strike or is there some secret organization of shovelers we aren’t aware of?
Why don’t we see middle-or high-school students ringing our doorbells to earn some money for helping to clear our driveways and sidewalks?
Former Swampscott High baseball and football coach Frank DeFelice, who has his property shoveled by the school’s football players every year, said he thinks the desire to shovel snow is still there, but the opportunities are melting away.
For the past three years, DeFelice’s property was shoveled by football players provided by Swampscott High School football coach Bob Serino. The number of shovelers varies from year to year. This year, one of the two kids who cleaned up DeFelice’s yard and the block was infected with COVID-19. As a result, DeFelice hired his granddaughter Alexandra to finish the job the two students had started. DeFelice pays a $50 flat rate, which increases every year.
“There are a lot of snow blowers around these days and there are people who come who specialize in that sort of cleanup,” DeFelice said. “I still think that there are kids and high-schoolers who want to make money because they need it. Maybe the opportunities are becoming harder and harder.”
Serino said the lack of kids shoveling snow is because more people have hired landscapers whose job it is to clean off driveways and blocks.
“We used to go out and shovel and make money,” Serino said. “This was 30 to 40 years ago. I honestly don’t know if you see many kids shoveling these days, but we’ve had football players asking to shovel for four years.”
Saugus teen Alex Brenton said he has a shoveling service that he formed on his own this year. His theory on why there are fewer kids out shoveling is because parents are not pushing their kids hard enough and they can earn money elsewhere.
“From what I’ve heard, there are fewer kids shoveling snow today than say when my parents were kids,” Brenton said. “This may be because fewer kids are getting pushed to work hard and are simply given money, and not having to shovel.”
Beverly resident Nick Tate said he believes people have been buying snow blowers on the cheap in the beginning of spring — reducing the need to pay more money for kids to shovel snow at a slow rate.
“Families are more likely to own a snow blower these days,” Tate said. “I did a quick check on Home Depot’s website and you can buy a decent snow blower for $300 to $400. Those prices go down in the spring.”
Melrose resident Jacob Foti argues that the lack of snow shovelers is due to the world becoming more digital, allowing for kids to make money through technology compared to labor.
“Since COVID, adults have been more lax on their kids when it comes to making their own money,” Foti said.
Daniel Burns-Mckernan, who originally lived in Lynn but now lives in Lunenburg, said kids aren’t as dependent on money for entertainment, now that everything is on the internet for free. He also said fees to shovel have not changed since he was a teenager.
“I think a big part is that kids are a bit more financially literate and folks still expect them to do manual labor for the same prices like I used to do in the ’90s,” Burns-Mckernan said. “Making $20 to shovel a driveway is the equivalent to $40 to $50 now and no one would pay a 14-year-old $45 for a half hour of work.
So, where are the youths who shovel snow? Some are still around but it seems a majority have taken to the internet for means of making money. Families have bought snow blowers to save money and time and parents are not providing the incentives for kids to go out to clean the driveway or block.
However, Brenton said he still has faith that there are those who want to shovel for money and argues there are benefits for this kind of work.
“You can make more than a 9-5 in the long run, work your hours and help people with their problems in the process,” he said. “I hope to use this as a springboard for a bigger business.”
