Not sure how she will buy her wet gear or pay for food for her robotics class trip to the Pacific Island of Palau, senior Jamie Cool lacks hours from her job at Rue 21 in the Tanger outlet mall in Howell, Michigan.

She broke down and asked for certain supplies she needed for Christmas from her parents, but now with the trip just a few weeks away and no money to spend, her concern grows. She struggles to pay for bills and necessities she has.

“I am freaking out because I am not working as much and I was banking on that money to pay for my trips,” Cool said. “Now, I don’t know how I’m going to do that.”

Students are involved in after school sports, publications and other activities with their friends. Money is always needed; although, high schoolers’ availability is limited.

“Being a student makes it difficult to be called in like those people that are no longer in school, so, of course, [employers] would call them first,” said senior Evan Meade who works at Nike in the Tanger outlet mall.

The U.S Department of Labor states that youth under the age of 18 can only work up to 48 hours, six days a week. So, while managers still feel the need to give hours, it is not easy for them, either.

“When the roads are bad or the weather is just plain crappy, we don’t get as much business, so we have to start cutting hours so that we don’t lose money,” said the general manager of McDonald’s in Stockbridge, Kimberly Duncan.