Canadian Teenagers Busiest in OECD

Despite the stereotypical image of nonchalant, lounging teenagers, Canadian teenagers carry a heavier load than people give them credit for, according to a new study. Compared with nine other countries from the OECD, Canadian teenagers ranked first in terms of average hours spent on unpaid and paid labour during the school week.

Furthermore, averaged over the week, including school and non-school days, teenagers did an average of 7.1 hours of unpaid and paid labour per day in 2005. This 50-hour workweek was virtually the same as that of adult Canadians aged 20 to 64 doing the same activities.

The Statistics Canada study found that the teenagers did an average of 9.2 hours of schoolwork, homework, paid work and housework on school days and 3.5 hours on weekends.

The time teenagers spent on these skill-enhancing activities is arguably a positive investment in their long-term personal and economic well being. However, not surprisingly, the relatively high workloads involved do result in some stress.

For example, 16% considered themselves workaholics, 39% felt under constant pressure to accomplish more than they could handle, and nearly two-thirds (64%) cut back on sleep to get things done.

Also, only 45% of teenagers with high stress reported being very happy and/or very satisfied with life, significantly lower than that of teenagers with little or no stress (around 72%).

After school attendance, homework was the most time-consuming unpaid activity for teenagers, with 60% doing an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes every day.

Family environment is a strong predictor of this activity. Teenagers were significantly more likely to do homework and more of it if both parents had a university education, if they lived in a two-parent intact family (where a divorce has not taken place), and if their parents were foreign-born.

Interestingly, boys with Canadian-born parents did significantly less homework than girls in similar families and less than either girls or boys with immigrant parents. Also important, teenagers with demanding paid jobs (20 hours or more per week) did significantly less homework than those not employed.

Although some studies have shown part-time student employment to be positively linked with personal responsibility, dependability and future productivity, an excess of it can interfere with school. Furthermore, this study shows that teenagers with long paid workweeks reported higher levels of personal stress.

Nearly 4 in 10 teenagers did some housework daily, averaging about one hour. Although overall gender differences have narrowed over the past 20 years, in 2005, girls with immigrant parents did significantly more housework than boys in such families.