Karma Galay, Sr. Researcher,   cbs@druknet.bt

Time use studies give information on what people actually do in their lives and, therefore, provide information on work and labor allocation (including that of children) within households both at a point of time and over a period of time. Time use studies are therefore, very useful for understanding the overall transformation or change experienced by societies. Such information is useful for designing comprehensive and balanced economic and social policies; needless to mention, the well-being of societies can only be improved by informed policy formulation.

Time use studies provide information on work life balance of individuals in society. They provide information on the number of hours an individual spends on work and other activities such as socialization with family and friends, sports, and other leisure activities. Imbalance in time allocation between work and other activities is caused by a number of factors amongst which the increased number of work hours is the most prominent. An increase in work hours, in turn, is, among others, caused by one’s desire to make more money. Money becomes the focus or the driving force behind long hours of work to many individuals. These individuals exaggerate the importance of money to their well-being and get into a situation of what has been called “focusing illusion.” As they devote more time to work they do not find time to do things that they enjoy. Such people are not happier but are much more stressed than others (Kahneman et al., 2006). In most of the countries covered by the survey, it was found that people who had long work hours and poor work-life balance generally had low subjective well-being (Böhnke, 2005).