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New Measures of TeachersÕ Work Hours and Implications for Wage Comparisons

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  • Kristine L. West

    (Department of Economics St. Catherine University St. Paul, MN)

Abstract

Researchers have good data on teachers' annual salaries but a hazy understanding of teachersÕ hours of work. This makes it difficult to calculate an accurate hourly wage and leads policy makers to default to anecdote rather than fact when debating teacher pay. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, I find that teachers work an average of 34.5 hours per week on an annual basis (38.0 hours per week during the school year and 21.5 hours per week during the summer months). I find that when hours per week are accurately accounted for high school teachers earn in the range of 7Ð14 percent less than demographically similar workers in other occupations. However, elementary, middle, and special education teachers earn higher wages than demographically similar workers in other occupations. © 2014 Association for Education Finance and Policy

Suggested Citation

  • Kristine L. West, 2014. "New Measures of TeachersÕ Work Hours and Implications for Wage Comparisons," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(3), pages 231-263, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:231-263
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Katharine G. Abraham & Aaron Maitland & Suzanne M. Bianchi, 2006. "Non-response in the American Time Use Survey: Who Is Missing from the Data and How Much Does It Matter?," NBER Technical Working Papers 0328, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    7. West, Kristine Lamm & Mykerezi, Elton, 2011. "Teachers' unions and compensation: The impact of collective bargaining on salary schedules and performance pay schemes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 99-108, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dora Gicheva, 2022. "Altruism and Burnout: Long Hours in the Teaching Profession," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 427-457, March.
    2. Blazar, David & Gao, Wenjing & Gershenson, Seth & Goings, Ramon & Lagos, Francisco, 2024. "Do Grow-Your-Own Programs Work? Evidence from the Teacher Academy of Maryland," IZA Discussion Papers 16983, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Rebecca Allen & Asma Benhenda & John Jerrim & Sam Sims, 2020. "New evidence on teachers' working hours in England. An empirical analysis of four datasets," CEPEO Working Paper Series 20-02, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jan 2020.
    4. Gibney, Victoria Hunter & West, Kristine L. & Gershenson, Seth, 2022. "Blurred Boundaries: A Day in the Life of a Teacher," IZA Discussion Papers 15548, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Blackburn, McKinley L., 2021. "Are U.S. teacher salaries competitive? Accounting for geography and the retransformation bias in logarithmic regressions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

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