At Work in School: Part-Time Employment among Second-Level Students

Recent studies show there has been an increase in the number of students who have a paid job while at school, although there has been little research on the subject. This study set out to address this gap in knowledge and among the issues explored are the prevalence of student employment, the characteristics of those who work and do not work, the types of jobs in which students are employed, the commitments of their jobs in terms of hours and days worked, their motivations for working, the income and expenditure of students and the effects of their employment on a range of academic, social and labour market outcomes. The study draws on three main data sources. It draws some important conclusions and identifies key policy recommendations.

Published in association with the Economic and Social Research Institute.

About the Author

s Selina McCoy and Emer Smyth are researchers at the Economic and Social Research Institute.