At Work in School: Part-Time Employment Among Second-Level Students

January 05, 2005

News

05/01/2005

 

At Work in School: Part-Time Employment Among Second-Level Students

By Selina McCoy and Emer Smyth



Recent press reports have suggested high levels of part-time employment among students at second-level. This study examines key issues surrounding such part-time employment, including the prevalence of part-time work, the characteristics of those who work and do not work, the types of jobs in which students are employed, their motivations for working and the impact of their work on a range of academic, social and labour market outcomes.



Key Findings:

 

 

  • Over 60 per cent of Leaving Certificate students now have a regular part-time job. The prevalence of employment entailing considerable hours of work during the school week is concerning. Male students are particularly likely to work longer hours and to engage in weekday work.
  • There is some evidence of social class background having an increasing impact on participation in part-time work, particularly in terms of engagement in more time-intensive jobs; with students engaging in more intensive work increasingly less likely to be from more economically advantaged backgrounds.
  • The overwhelming motivation to engage in work is to finance a ‘lifestyle’ rather than because of financial difficulty or need. A concern over school grades is one of the main reasons cited for not engaging in such work, this concern being more prominent among females and Leaving Cert students.
  • Part-time work is associated with increased chances of early school leaving, the risk of dropout is especially evident among young people working more than fifteen hours a week.
  • Working students achieve lower grades than students not in paid employment. At Junior Cert level working longer hours is related to lower Junior Cert exam grades; at Leaving Cert level any level of involvement in paid work contributes to lower exam grades.
  • There is, however, some support for the view that employment contributes to the broader development of young people, and appears to smooth young people’s transition into the labour market, with lower levels of unemployment and greater entry into white-collar employment among student workers not going on to higher education.



At Work in School is published by Liffey Press in conjunction with the Economic and Social Research Institute. Copies of the book are available from bookshops or direct from the publisher (ISBN 1-904148-54-9).



Members of the Press are invited to attend the launch, by the Minister for Education & Science Ms. MARY HANAFIN, T.D., of the publication on Wednesday 5th January 2005, at The Clock Tower, Department of Education & Science, Marlborough Street, D1, at 3.00pm