Education and Skills

Which countries have the most students juggling work and studies?

Sebastian Brixey-Williams
Writer, Forum Agenda

Many employers are increasingly valuing skills and work experience as equal to or better than a formal education.

For this reason, along with the rising costs of living and university tuition, large numbers of students are opting to hold down a job alongside their studies.

However, students in some countries toil harder than others. The chart below, based on the OECD’s 2012 Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), depicts the balance of work and study in 22 countries.

1510B44-study work netherlands australia chart

Across the countries surveyed, an average of 39.6% of students were employed while studying. The countries with the most students working are the Netherlands, where nearly 64% work, closely followed by Australia. Czech students are the most focused on their studies, with just over 18% in a job. Gender was not found to influence the likelihood of working.

While up to 50% of employment is comprised of apprenticeships and vocational education programmes, most students were found to work in jobs not related to their field of study.

Have you read?
10 best cities in the world to be a student
Which countries are the best for foreign students?
Where are the world’s top 10 universities?

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Sebastian Brixey-Williams is a Digital Content Producer at Formative Content. 

Image: A graduate wears a houndstooth ribbon on her graduation cap. REUTERS/Marvin Gentry 

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Future of Work

Related topics:
Education and SkillsJobs and the Future of Work
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Education is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why younger generations need critical thinking, fact-checking and media verification to stay safe online

Agustina Callegari and Adeline Hulin

October 31, 2024

Skills for the future: 4 ways to help workers transition to the digital economy

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum