4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 1994
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/05/1994
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Participation in Education: Time spent on education
Increasing educational attendance In 1983, 7% of people aged 15-64 years were undertaking full-time education; by 1993 this had risen to 10%. Most of the increase was due to increased retention of secondary school students (Year 12 retention increased from 41% in 1983 to 77% in 1992) and increased tertiary attendance by those aged 19-24 years. The proportion of people aged 15-24 years undertaking full-time education increased from 27% in 1983 to 39% in 1993. At the same time the proportion undertaking part-time education remained steady at around 9%. The majority (82%) of students aged 15-24 years attended full-time in 1993, while the majority (76%) of students aged 25-64 years attended part-time. PROPORTION OF PEOPLE STUDYING
Source: Survey of Transition from Education to Work Time spent on activities In 1992 Australians aged 15 years and over spent an average 2% of their day on education compared to 14% on labour force activity. The time spent on education represented some 6.8 million hours a day. Those who participated in education on a full or part-time basis did so on average for about six hours a day. The time spent on education differed markedly according to age and life-cycle stage. Time spent on educational activities The time spent on education is made up of different associated activities. In 1992, approximately 45% of time spent on education was for attendance at educational/vocational courses, 32% of time spent was on homework, research and study, 10% was on associated travel and 6% was on lunch and other breaks. Of those who reported undertaking educational activity in the 1992 Time Use Survey, people aged 15-24 years reported spending 6 hrs 45 mins a day on educational activities. Of people in this age group, those undertaking secondary education spent the most amount of time, over 7 hours a day, compared to 6 hrs 37 mins for those in other full-time education and almost 5 hours a day for those in part-time education. As expected, those undertaking secondary education spent the greatest amount of time attending classes, while those undertaking other full-time education spent more time on homework, research and study than any other group. PROPORTION OF EDUCATION TIME SPENT ON SELECTED EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, 1992 Source: Time Use Survey Time spent by students Average time spent on educational activity by students (three hours) is lower than the average time spent by those who participated (six hours). This is because students' time is averaged over days when no educational activity was undertaken (e.g. weekends and school holidays) while participants' time is only averaged over those days when educational activity was actually undertaken. While the latter is the more meaningful figure, it is necessary to use average time spent by students in order to compare and contrast time use for different categories of students. Overall, there was little difference in the average time spent on education by men and women.
Students and family status Family status is one of the factors which affects the amount of time a person is able to spend on education. People classified as other family members represented 57% of all those classified as students. They spent the largest amount of time on education, averaging almost four hours a day. This was followed by lone parents with children under 15 years of age who represented 2% of students and averaged about three hours of education a day. Non-family members, who include people living in group households and those living alone, spent just under two and a half hours a day on educational activity. Among couples, those with children under 15 years old spent less time on education than those without them. AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON EDUCATION BY STUDENTS, 1992
Source: Time Use Survey Students and labour force status Education, like work, has a constraining effect on other activities because attendance is demanded within specific times and education is not easily carried out simultaneously with other tasks. Of persons studying full-time in May 1993, 30% also worked. The majority of these (90%) were employed part-time. Of persons studying part-time, 86% also worked and of these, 84% were employed full-time1. The 1992 Time Use Survey found that, on average, secondary school students spent more time on education than any other group (almost five hours a day) and less time on labour force activity (less than half an hour a day). Full-time tertiary students spent, on average, almost four hours a day on education and an hour and a half on labour force activity while part-time tertiary students spent over an hour a day on education and over four and a half hours on labour force activity. This group spent more time on education and labour force activity combined than full-time students, secondary students or non-students. Students tend to prefer work in jobs where the hours may be flexible to accommodate their educational requirements. In addition, the amount of time students spend on education can affect the types of jobs they have. Among male students, sales persons, personal service workers and labourers averaged the longest time spent on education; among female students, sales persons and personal service workers spent most time on education, followed by professionals and para-professionals. Students and other activities As people become involved in education, the time available for other activities decreases. Students, whether secondary or tertiary, spent 22-24% of their day on education and labour force activity combined, compared to 14% spent by non-students. Most of the difference was taken up with household activity and passive leisure (watching TV, reading etc.). On average, secondary students spent almost 11 hours a day on personal activity (mainly sleeping), nearly three hours a day on passive leisure and two hours a day on social life and entertainment. They spent equal amounts of time (about an hour and a quarter) on household activity and active leisure pursuits. Among full-time tertiary students the activity pattern was similar with almost ten and a half hours spent on personal activity, two and three-quarters on passive leisure and two hours on social life and entertainment. However, full-time tertiary students spent twice as much time on household activity as on active leisure, two hours and one hour respectively. Part-time students spent less time than other students on all non-labour force and education activities except household work and voluntary work. Apart from personal activity, non-students spent more time on household work than on any other activity. AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON EDUCATION AND OTHER ACTIVITIES, 1992
Source: Time Use Survey Endnotes 1 Survey of Transition from Education to Work.
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