IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp4666.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Time to Work or Time to Play: The Effect of Student Employment on Homework, Sleep, and Screen Time

Author

Listed:
  • Kalenkoski, Charlene M.

    (James Madison University)

  • Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff

    (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Abstract

We use detailed time-diary information on high school students' daily activities from the 2003-2008 American Time Use Surveys (ATUS) to investigate the effects of employment on the time a student spends on homework and other major activities. Time-diary data are more detailed and accurate than data derived from responses to 'usual activity' survey questions underlying other analyses and capture the immediate effects of working that may well accumulate over time to affect future outcomes. Our results suggest that employment decreases the time that high school students spend on human-capital-building activities such as homework and extracurricular activities, but also decreases screen time, which may be considered unproductive time. Results for sleep suggest that working teens may not suffer from reduced sleep time.

Suggested Citation

  • Kalenkoski, Charlene M. & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2009. "Time to Work or Time to Play: The Effect of Student Employment on Homework, Sleep, and Screen Time," IZA Discussion Papers 4666, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4666
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp4666.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, 2001. "Evidence on Youth Employment, Earnings, and Parental Transfers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(4), pages 795-822.
    2. Amemiya, Takeshi, 1973. "Regression Analysis when the Dependent Variable is Truncated Normal," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 41(6), pages 997-1016, November.
    3. David Neumark & Mary Joyce, 2001. "Evaluating School-to-Work Programs Using the New NLSY," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(4), pages 666-702.
    4. Christian Dustmann & Arthur Soest, 2008. "Part-time work, school success and school leaving," Studies in Empirical Economics, in: Christian Dustmann & Bernd Fitzenberger & Stephen Machin (ed.), The Economics of Education and Training, pages 23-45, Springer.
    5. Bradley T. Ewing, 2007. "The Labor Market Effects of High School Athletic Participation," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 8(3), pages 255-265, June.
    6. Stinebrickner Ralph & Stinebrickner Todd R., 2008. "The Causal Effect of Studying on Academic Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-55, June.
    7. Light, Audrey, 2001. "In-School Work Experience and the Returns to Schooling," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 65-93, January.
    8. Nicola Persico & Andrew Postlewaite & Dan Silverman, 2004. "The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 1019-1053, October.
    9. Gerald S. Oettinger, 1999. "Does High School Employment Affect High School Academic Performance?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(1), pages 136-151, October.
    10. Charlene Kalenkoski & Sabrina Pabilonia, 2010. "Parental transfers, student achievement, and the labor supply of college students," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 469-496, March.
    11. Nicola Persico & Andrew Postlewaite & Dan Silverman, 2001. "The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height, Third Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 04-013, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 15 Mar 2004.
    12. Brint, S & Allison M. Cantwell, 2008. "Undergraduate Time Use and Academic Outcomes: Results from UCUES 2006," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt0vh9m8nj, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
    13. John M. Barron & Bradley T. Ewing & Glen R. Waddell, 2000. "The Effects Of High School Athletic Participation On Education And Labor Market Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(3), pages 409-421, August.
    14. V. Joseph Hotz & Lixin Colin Xu & Marta Tienda & Avner Ahituv, 2002. "Are There Returns To The Wages Of Young Men From Working While In School?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 221-236, May.
    15. DeSimone Jeff, 2006. "Academic Performance and Part-Time Employment among High School Seniors," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-36, August.
    16. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1997. "Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 735-776, October.
    17. Lipscomb, Stephen, 2007. "Secondary school extracurricular involvement and academic achievement: a fixed effects approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 463-472, August.
    18. Charlene Kalenkoski & Sabrina Pabilonia, 2009. "Does Working While in High School Reduce U.S. Study Time?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 117-121, August.
    19. John H. Tyler, 2003. "Using State Child Labor Laws to Identify the Effect of School-Year Work on High School Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 353-380, April.
    20. Charlene M. Kalenkoski & David C. Ribar & Leslie S. Stratton, 2011. "Chapter 1 How do Adolescents Spell Time Use? An Alternative Metholological Approach For Analyzing Time-Diary DATA," Research in Labor Economics, in: Research in Labor Economics, pages 1-44, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    21. Aksoy, Tevfik & Link, Charles R., 2000. "A panel analysis of student mathematics achievement in the US in the 1990s: does increasing the amount of time in learning activities affect math achievement?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 261-277, June.
    22. Ozkan Eren & Daniel J. Henderson, 2008. "The impact of homework on student achievement," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 11(2), pages 326-348, July.
    23. Kalenkoski, Charlene M. & Ribar, David C. & Stratton, Leslie S., 2009. "How Do Adolescents Spell Time Use?," IZA Discussion Papers 4374, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    24. Claude Montmarquette & Nathalie Viennot-Briot & Marcel Dagenais, 2007. "Dropout, School Performance, and Working while in School," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(4), pages 752-760, November.
    25. Kuhn, Peter J. & Weinberger, Catherine, 2002. "Leadership Skills and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 482, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    26. Light, Audrey, 1999. "High school employment, high school curriculum, and post-school wages," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 291-309, June.
    27. Donna S. Rothstein, 2007. "High School Employment and Youths' Academic Achievement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(1).
    28. David Roodman, 2011. "Fitting fully observed recursive mixed-process models with cmp," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 11(2), pages 159-206, June.
    29. Michael, Robert T & Tuma, Nancy Brandon, 1984. "Youth Employment: Does Life Begin at 16?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 464-476, October.
    30. Stinebrickner, Ralph & Stinebrickner, T.R.Todd R., 2004. "Time-use and college outcomes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 243-269.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kalenkoski, Charlene Marie & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2012. "Time to work or time to play: The effect of student employment on homework, sleep, and screen time," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 211-221.
    2. Charles L. Baum & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2016. "The Changing Benefits of Early Work Experience," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(2), pages 343-363, October.
    3. Brecht Neyt & Eddy Omey & Dieter Verhaest & Stijn Baert, 2019. "Does Student Work Really Affect Educational Outcomes? A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 896-921, July.
    4. Holford, Angus, 2015. "Youth employment and academic performance: production functions and policy effects," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-06, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. Holford, Angus, 2020. "Youth employment, academic performance and labour market outcomes: Production functions and policy effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Sabia, Joseph J., 2009. "School-year employment and academic performance of young adolescents," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 268-276, April.
    7. Franz Buscha & Arnaud Maurel & Lionel Page & Stefan Speckesser, 2007. "The Effect of High School Employment on Educational Attainment : A Conditional Difference-in-Differences Approach," Working Papers 2007-40, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    8. Charlene Kalenkoski & Sabrina Pabilonia, 2010. "Parental transfers, student achievement, and the labor supply of college students," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 469-496, March.
    9. Cristina Lopez-Mayan, 2013. "Performance in Post-compulsory Education: Evidence from Vocational and Academic Tracks," Working Papers wpdea1302, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    10. Rune V. Lesner & Anna Piil Damm & Preben Bertelsen & Mads Uffe Pedersen, 2018. "Life Skills Development of Teenagers through Spare-Time Jobs," Economics Working Papers 2018-09, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    11. Darolia, Rajeev, 2014. "Working (and studying) day and night: Heterogeneous effects of working on the academic performance of full-time and part-time students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 38-50.
    12. Phipps, Aaron & Amaya, Alexander, 2023. "Are students time constrained? Course load, GPA, and failing," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    13. Fougère, Denis & Beffy, Magali & Maurel, Arnaud, 2013. "The Effect of College Employment on Graduation: Evidence from France," CEPR Discussion Papers 9565, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, 2017. "Teenagers’ risky health behaviors and time use during the great recession," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 945-964, September.
    15. Tjaša Bartolj & Sašo Polanec, 2018. "Does Work Harm Academic Performance of Students? Evidence Using Propensity Score Matching," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(4), pages 401-429, June.
    16. Kroupova, Katerina & Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana, 2024. "Student Employment and Education: A Meta-Analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    17. Jeffrey S. DeSimone, 2008. "The Impact of Employment during School on College Student Academic Performance," NBER Working Papers 14006, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Holford, Angus J., 2016. "Do Parents Tax Their Children? Teenage Labour Supply and Financial Support," IZA Discussion Papers 10040, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Magali Beffy & Denis Fougère & Arnaud Maurel, 2009. "L’impact du travail salarié des étudiants sur la réussite et la poursuite des études universitaires," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 422(1), pages 31-50.
    20. Huang, Fung-Mey & Liao, Jen-Che & Yi, Chin-Chun, 2020. "The impact of labor market work and educational tracking on student educational outcomes: Evidence from Taiwan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    high school; employment; teenagers; time allocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4666. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.