• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.55-70
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• 2015

This study aims to clarify the difference between scores for time management practice and the self-evaluation of time use according to time rules in families. This study used data obtained from the first survey on after-school activities in 2008, conducted by the Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute in Japan. The study sample consists of 3,372 middle school students. First, scores for independence and planning were highest in third grade, yet the score for regularity was also lowest in third grade. There will be different lifestyles even among middle school students of the same grade, so it is necessary to consider their characteristics and family rules. Second, the scores for independence, regularity and planning were lowest in groups whose families had rules about time (time rules for curfew, time rules for watching television, time rules for playing games), but in which those rules were not kept. These results were similar for both boys and girls and show that it is more important keep rules rather than to make rules.