April 25, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Older teachers work more hours than younger teachers

In 2003-06, teachers aged 50 and older who were employed full time worked more hours per week than teachers who were younger.

Average hours per week worked by teachers, by age, 2003-06
[Chart data—TXT]

Teachers aged 50 and older worked significantly more than teachers in their thirties (6.7 hours more per week) and twenties (5.1 hours more per week).

Teachers in their thirties worked less than teachers in their forties and fifties, but there is no statistically significant difference between the number of weekly hours of teachers in their thirties and that of teachers in their twenties.

These data are from the American Time Use Survey. To learn more, see "Teachers’ work patterns: when, where, and how much do U.S. teachers work?" by Rachel Krantz-Kent, Monthly Labor Review, March 2008. In this report, “teachers� refers to persons whose main job is teaching preschool–to–high school students.