Research Suggests High School Students Shouldn’t Work More Than 15 Hours A Week

Research Suggests High School Students Shouldn’t Work More Than 15 Hours A Week

Many high school students get part-time jobs to help pay for expenses or start saving for university. In her book Make Your Kid a Money Genius, author Beth Kobliner suggests students shouldn’t work more than 15 hours a week, though, citing a University of Michigan study.

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[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/11/the-sneaky-hidden-costs-of-college-life-and-how-to-save/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/11/shutterstock_291369725-410×231.jpg” title=”The Sneaky, Hidden Costs Of University Life (And How To Save)” excerpt=”University gets more expensive every year. And crazy tuition aside, there are a number of sneakier, hidden costs that can drain your wallet when you head back to school. These costs can add up fast, but there are some simple ways to cut them and save big. At the very least, knowing about them can help you can budget a little better.”]

Researchers from the University of Michigan studied groups of high school students for eight to 12 years to see how senior year employment affected them in the long term. They found a link between university completion and a heavy workload. A press release for the study reported:

By age 29 or 30, more than half of the high school graduates who had worked 1-15 hours a week when they were in 12th grade had completed a bachelor’s degree; but every additional 5 hours of work was associated with an 8 percentage point drop in completion, so that only about 20 per cent of those who had worked 31 hours or more finished college. After statistical controls for other prior factors, rates of college completion for those who worked 1-15 hours were still one and a half times the rates for those who worked 31 or more hours.

The study’s lead author said that students who did best didn’t work more than 15 hours a week on average. Of course, mileage will vary: Some students may be able to handle a heavier workload and that might be way too much for others. For more detail, check out the links below.

Working a lot in high school can short-change students’ future [Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan via Make Your Kid a Money Genius]


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