A1 Journal article (refereed)
Teenage Time Use and Educational Attainment in Adulthood in Finland (2021)

Ojala, S., Kan, M.-Y., & Oinas, T. (2021). Teenage Time Use and Educational Attainment in Adulthood in Finland. Social Sciences, 10(9), Article 343. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10090343

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Ojala, Satu; Kan, Man-Yee; Oinas, Tomi

Journal or series: Social Sciences

eISSN: 2076-0760

Publication year: 2021

Publication date: 14/09/2021

Volume: 10

Issue number: 9

Article number: 343

Publisher: MDPI AG

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10090343

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/77809

Abstract

We investigated the role of teenage everyday social ties in educational outcomes by examining the association between teenage time use and educational attainment in adulthood. The sample consisted of young people aged 10–18 from the 1979 Finnish Time Use Survey, and the same respondents’ educational attainment later in life recorded from population register data at the year of 40th birthday (n = 366 men and 393 women). We assessed the associations of time spent with the parents, on studying, leisure activities, as well as social connectedness with friends and participation in extracurricular activities, with educational outcomes. Our findings indicated that time spent with the father is positively associated with the likelihood of completing tertiary education for both daughters and sons. In particular, time spent with lower-education fathers was associated with teenagers’ future tertiary education. However, intense friendships and participation in extracurricular activities were not associated with academic achievement later in life. The findings suggest that educational attainment is partly explained by teenage time spent with the family. Less-educated fathers can enhance the attainment of higher education of their children by spending more time with their teenage children.

Keywords: young people; teenagers; time use; time management; parent-child relationship; education and training; level of education; tertiary education; educational choices; parents; gender; fathers; interaction; family relations; study; leisure; social relations

Free keywords: time use; family time; extracurricular activity; intergenerational educational attainment; gender

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2021

JUFO rating: 1