TimeExtraSchool - Differences in the Use of Extra-School Time across Children and Consequences for their Wellbeing and Development
TimeExtraSchool - Differences in the Use of Extra-School Time across Children and Consequences for their Wellbeing and Development
Aree / Gruppi di ricerca
Partecipanti al progetto
- Pronzato Chiara Daniela (Responsabile)
- Elena Meroni (Ricercatore)
- Daniela Piazzalunga (Ricercatore)
Descrizione del progetto
Increasingly, scientists from different disciplines have dedicated their efforts to understanding how childhood conditions influence the development of an individual. School and family play a role in this process. More prepared and motivated children today lead to more successful adults tomorrow, in the labor market as well as in all other life dimensions (health, civic participation, parenthood responsibilities) with benefits for the whole society.
Between the end of the school day and bedtime, time can be used for more or less structured activities, with other children and adults. Very little is known about how children from different families spend this time and what consequences it can have on their development and well-being and nothing is known about how participation in extra-curricular activities depends on offers and prices.
Evidence from the US shows that participation in extra-curricular activities is becoming, together with other traits (family stability, parenting style, economic and cultural resources), a further distinction of diverging destinies of “our kids”. Children from more advantaged families have access to better opportunities in their extra school time, potentially increasing inequality.
In this project, I carried out a survey on 1000 Italian children, making questions about their use of time and their well-being. The starting date of the survey happened to be on the same day as the closures of the schools due to the pandemic (February 2020). Therefore, the survey was postponed to October 2020 and questions about the COVID period were introduced.
