Time to learn? Time allocations among children in South Africa

• Published in: International journal of educational development Vol. 56; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Posel, Dorrit, Grapsa, Erofili
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Children; Education; South Africa; Time allocations; Time allocations; South Africa; Children; Education
• ISSN: 0738-0593; 1873-4871
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2017.07.002

•There is significant racial variation in the average time allocations of children in South Africa.•In comparison to other children, African children spend less time on learning, particularly outside school hours.•African children spend more time on school-related travel and on household and production work.•African children do not spend less time on leisure or report more time constraints than other children.•Inputs from school and home are important in accounting for the lower time allocations to learning among African children. We investigate the time allocations of children (10–17 years) in South Africa using nationally representative time-diary data. We show that racial variation in time allocations mirrors well-documented findings of racially differentiated schooling outcomes. African children spend significantly less time on learning activities than other children, particularly outside school hours. They also spend significantly more time on household and production work and on school-related travel. We use regression analysis to investigate whether these race differences persist among children in households with similar socio-economic characteristics; and we explore whether children’s subjective time evaluations reveal evidence of greater time pressure among African children.