Lesson: Jack's Delivery Service

Hold a class discussion about jobs and wages students might be familiar with at their age level. Ask:
• Who has ever gotten paid for doing a job for someone, such as babysitting, lawn mowing, etc.?
• Which of these jobs tend to pay by the hour? Which tend to pay by the task?
• What are the typical wages for these types of jobs?
• If you walk a neighbor’s dog 5 times a week, and you earn $10 for each dog walk, how much money will you make per week? Explain how you know.

• What is Teen Hustl? (a delivery service where kids sign up to deliver items within a 2-mile radius of where they live)
• What about Teen Hustl makes it a good job opportunity for kids? (Since kids deliver only within 2 miles, they don’t need cars; the work hours are outside of school only—4 to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.)
• What do kids have to do to become a Teen Hustlr? (Kids have to train with Jack by accompanying him on deliveries. They have to take an online food-safety course. They have to download the Teen Hustl delivery app.)
• Describe a time when Jack decided to turn a failure into a learning opportunity. (Jack tried to use his family’s garage as a warehouse for common convenience items, but that service wasn’t as popular as he’d hoped.)

Before playing the video, display the following vocabulary terms: net income, earnings statement, gross income, hourly rate, deductions, taxes. Have volunteers describe any terms that they already know to the class. Then ask students to listen carefully for the other vocabulary terms and what they mean while watching the video. Afterward, choose student volunteers to model how gross income, taxes, gross deductions, and net income are calculated. If students can’t recall, replay the video for the class. Post this information for students to use as a reference during the “Your Turn” questions.

Distribute calculators to students or allow them to use an online digital calculator. Read through the “Calculating Income Taxes” box on page 7. Have a volunteer read question 1. As a class, discuss and fill in the column for Jamie’s income. Then have students independently complete Annika’s column in the chart. Review the answers as a class and ask: Did you notice any patterns or quicker calculations you could have made as you were completing the chart? (Answers will vary.)

Some students might not know why taxes are taken out of paychecks. Or they might have opinions on whether these taxes should be taken out. Ask students to research what the following taxes pay for: Social Security tax, Medicare tax, federal income tax, and state income tax. Then talk about these taxes as a class and ask the following questions: What are the benefits of having these taxes collected? What drawbacks are there? How do you feel about these taxes?

Tell students the U.S. median hourly wage in 2019 was $15.35. Using this information, have students draw a chart similar to the one in the article that includes the calculations of the gross income, taxes taken out, and net income for a Teen Hustl worker who earned the 2019 median hourly wage for 20 and 35.5 hours per month.