Mayor Denies Kids Work For “Breadcrumbs”

The mayor of Akureyri has dismissed a mother’s complaints that young people are paid “breadcrumbs” for the summer work they do.

Vísir reports that the fracas began when Sædís Inga Ingimarsdóttir, the mother of a 14-year-old girl in Akureyri, wrote a column for Akureyri’s local news site entitled, “Youth work or slave labour”. She said she was shocked to learn how little young people are paid for their summer work, saying it amounted to “breadcrumbs”.

Sædís pointed out that young people in Akureyri are paid just over 34,000 ISK for nine weeks’ work, and asked rhetorically whether she would encourage her daughter to work for the city, or whether she would rather encourage her to seek a job that pays fair wages.

In a statement from the town council, they point out that Akureyri kids who take part in summer work are also granted other services, such as a summer school that teaches the importance of work.

Akureyri mayor Eiríkur Björn Björgvinsson took the same tone, saying that other municipalities – that might pay kids more to work during the summer – do not necessarily offer classes and fun activities during working hours, like Akureyri does. He did say, though, that the town would review their wage policy for young people.