How employed students lived the COVID-19 lockdown in Romania

Abstract

This paper draws on the conceptual framework of “time poverty” to explore how employed students, a group much affected by “time poverty”, experienced changes in time allocation during the COVID-19 lockdown in Romania. Findings of a mixed-method study indicate that working and non-working students perceived and engaged differently with this sudden increase in discretionary time. Compared to non-working students, working students, welcomed this newly acquired time and saw it as an opportunity to engage in both education and self-growth activities. They also show higher levels of engagement with educational activities and an increased sense of satisfaction resulting from this engagement, as well as higher levels of wellbeing. This quick reorientation clearly reveals that time poverty is a barrier to education and personal well-being for working students.