Gap years are shrinking - good or bad news?

New research from Bebo suggests that more and more students are cutting back on their gap years, and making them half, or even quarter years.

Fears about money worries - that credit crunch again - are the main culprits. The survey, of 2,000 students and post-grads, reveals that wannabee gap year travellers are so worried about funds, and the thought of being in debt on their return, they are cutting their travels short. More than two thirds are planning a maximum journey of six months away, with some going for just three instead of 12 months.

The research carried out to celebrate Bebo's Gap Year Series also suggests that travellers want to make their money last longer. Apparently this means they're prepared to go to more dangerous locations. Bebo report that Kenya, Sri Lanka and South Africa are all becoming more common destinations.

Gap years have long been heralded as wonderful experiences which broaden the mind before heading off to study. This may be true, but let's be honest, there's no reason why they should last for an entire year. Doesn't this, caused inadvertently by economic conditions, actually make good sense? Why not travel for a while and earn some much needed money either before or afterwards? Students, welcome to the real world.....

Comments

[wiltshire wurzel]

Hey, my parents told me to pay my own way- why should others be any different? If you take a gap year, make sure it's productive and edifying, not a glorified holiday!

[Adam]

Fear,fear,fear. Isn't that the theme of our times? Terrorism, Credit Crunch, Environmental disaster, etc. You name it. Cut back, shrink, restrict. No, we can't let this panic hysteria seep into the minds of the young. Get out there and travel 'within' your means, if it's a 2 week trip or 2 months. Don't let fear cripple you into never seeing the world - speaking as a guy in his mind 30s now, 11 years (working back in Britain in-between) and 40 countries later. How does the saying go? Feel the fear and do it anyway? That's my advice on this.

[Richard de Gerber]

i own a recruitment company and we know the better graduates are those that had a gap year based on working and travel, those that just bumped along on holiday are not as motivated and fail to gain the better careers.

[Kyl]

Of people I know who've had gap years in the last five years, these have included:
Working June til April and then travelling for 4 months; working as an au pair in France and practising the language; six-month placement teaching English in China; full-time work; year in industry...
I don't think I personally know any of these mythical parent-funded year-long pleasure seekers.
The only person I know whose parents funded their trip spent 2 months working in hospitals in India and then Orphanages in Vietnam as part of their tour.
This is not really news.

[Arthur Van Der Lae]

the last line says it all

"Students, welcome to the real world....."

[John Scott]

Why has "gap year" become a lazy shorthand for "gap year travelling". There is all the world of difference between someone who travels for a year and someone who seeks to be productive and gain more valuable skills by working. I advocate "gap years" to prospective university applicants - but only in the sense of working, earning money and understanding the world. A glorified holiday is simply a waste of time. At least the Grand Tour was related to what the young studied before travelling!