Part-Time Work Squeezes Out Study and Reading Time for Japan’s University Students

Society Education Mar 24, 2026

Japan’s busy students are working more and spending less time on study, according to a recent survey.

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In February 2026, the National Federation of University Co-operative Associations announced the results of a survey on student life in Japan conducted in the autumn of the previous year. The breakdown of monthly expenses showed that food expenses increased, reflecting rising prices. Meanwhile, book expenses, which had already been declining, fell further to below ¥1,000 for the first time in 10 years.

Among students surveyed, 77.4% work part-time while pursuing their studies. This proportion rose from 2016 to 2019, and then dropped sharply in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, the percentage began to increase again and has risen year on year since, exceeding the pre-pandemic level in 2024 and reaching an even higher level the following year.

Students who work longer hours tend not to read. The proportion of students who said that their daily reading time was “zero minutes” was 63.6% among those who work 23 hours or more per week, compared with 52.2% among those who work less than 7 hours. This clearly shows the relation between working fewer hours and reading more. On the other hand, some students read for 60 minutes or more regardless of how many hours they work, suggesting that students are becoming divided into two groups: those who do not read and those who make time to read even when they are busy.

The survey also found that the more hours students worked part-time, the higher the proportion of those who spent “zero hours” outside of university on studying, whether for class preparation or review. As weekly working hours decreased, the proportion of those studying “zero hours” also fell, while at the same time the portion of those studying “10 hours or more” rose. In short, long working hours are clearly making it harder for students to find time to study.

Data Sources

Student survey (Japanese) from the National Federation of University Co-operative Associations.

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