What Makes Adolescents Free Time Use Differently?

Abstract

This study examined allocation of adolescents’ free time differs depending on financial and spatial availability by exploiting the exogenous change on the school day. Using Korea Time Use Survey data, I found that adolescents allocate free time created by Saturday without school to mainly leisure activities. I also found that adolescents’ private education and social activity time are not affected by parents’ income, but adolescents living in big (small-medium) cities spend more time on private education, social and cultural activities (screen-based activities). These results suggest that the determinants of adolescents’ free time allocation differ from those of their time use patterns, and reducing the education environment heterogeneity by region is important in bridging adolescents’ inequality of educational opportunity. Subject classification codes: I24, I28, J13, J22