I am 14 and I've been searching for a job for almost a year now. There are hardly any opportunities for young people like me, and I was wondering if you could help me with my search.

I think it's absolutely brilliant that you want to find a job, however, it's important that you guard against being exploited because of your age.

Fortunately, in this country there are laws to protect you from this. I'm sure you will have heard about the horrific sweatshops' in some countries, where very young children work long hours in dreadful conditions for ridiculously small amounts of money. You won't ever have to suffer like these poor kids because in the UK you are only allowed to work as follows:

  • For a maximum of 2 hours on any school day, only one of which may be before the start of school

  • For a maximum of 2 hours on any Sunday

  • For a maximum of 12 hours per week in term time

  • For a maximum of 5 hours on any Saturday or on weekdays during school holidays, subject to a weekly maximum of 25 hours in the school holidays