Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, UK.
Br J Sociol. 2012 Sep;63(3):451-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2012.01419.x.
Free time, that is, the time that remains at one's own discretion after conducting daily work and personal care activities, has been previously recognized as a 'primary good' and an important welfare resource that provides opportunities for participation in social life and leisure. However, recent years have witnessed an increasing preoccupation with the phenomenon of time poverty, drawing attention to the distribution of free time and its relationship to structural and family circumstances. In this article we propose a novel approach to the measurement of time poverty and document its occurrence amongst British workers. In line with previous literature, a conceptualization of time poverty as a relative lack of free time resources vis-à-vis other members of the community is adopted. However, unlike previous empirical studies, we investigate the differential configuration of time poverty on weekdays and weekend days, alongside indicators of the quality of free time, taking into account insights from theoretical and empirical work within the field of the sociology of time. Our analysis of the 2000 UK Time Use Survey highlights class and gender inequalities that have been missed by previous measurement approaches and demonstrates that, overall, working women experience multiple and more severe free time constraints, which may constitute an additional barrier for their leisure and social participation.
闲暇时间，即在完成日常工作和个人护理活动后可自由支配的时间，此前被认为是一种“主要的善”和重要的福利资源，为参与社会生活和休闲提供了机会。然而，近年来，人们越来越关注时间贫困现象，关注闲暇时间的分配及其与结构和家庭环境的关系。本文提出了一种衡量时间贫困的新方法，并记录了英国工人中时间贫困的发生情况。与以往的文献一致，我们将时间贫困概念化为相对于社区其他成员缺乏自由时间资源。然而，与以往的实证研究不同，我们在考虑时间社会学领域的理论和实证工作的见解的同时，研究了工作日和周末时间贫困的差异配置以及闲暇时间质量的指标。我们对 2000 年英国时间使用调查的分析突出了以往衡量方法所忽略的阶级和性别不平等现象，并表明，总体而言，职业女性经历了更多和更严重的闲暇时间限制，这可能成为她们休闲和社会参与的另一个障碍。
