Time and well-being, an institutional, comparative perspective: Is it time to explore the idea of a time policy?

This article explores the relationship between time and well-being as a social policy question. Although the research on time and well-being is extensive, few have dealt with them together from a comparative institutional perspective. Based on data from the third European Quality of Life Survey (EQL...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of European social policy 2020-07, Vol.30 (3), p.275-292
Main Authors: Lahat, Lihi, Sened, Itai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Data quality
Policy making
Quality of life
Social policy
Time
Welfare
Well being
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Summary:This article explores the relationship between time and well-being as a social policy question. Although the research on time and well-being is extensive, few have dealt with them together from a comparative institutional perspective. Based on data from the third European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) of 2012, regarding 34 mostly European countries, in different welfare regimes, we explore two issues: (1) What are the effects of welfare regimes on the uses of time and subjective well-being? and (2) What are the effects of different uses of time on subjective well-being? We find that the institutional structure – the welfare regime – affects the way people use their time. Furthermore, the findings documented that uses of time have a direct effect on well-being when controlling for individual level as well as country-level variables. These findings may have important implications for policymaking.
ISSN:0958-9287
1461-7269
DOI:10.1177/0958928719891339