Masuda Yuta J, Williams Jason R, Tallis Heather
The Nature Conservancy, Seattle, WA 98108, USA.
University of Washington, Seattle 98119, USA.
J Happiness Stud. 2021 Jun;22:2051-2073. doi: 10.1007/s10902-020-00307-8. Epub 2020 Sep 3.
Time and income are distinct and critical resources needed in the pursuit of happiness (life satisfaction). Income can be used to purchase market goods and services, and time can be used to spend time with friends and family, rest and sleep, and other activities. Yet little research has examined how different combinations of time and income affect life satisfaction, and if more of both is positively associated with greater levels of life satisfaction. We investigate whether life satisfaction significantly varies with time and income using data from the American Time Use Survey and its well-being module, which is a nationally representative sample of over 5000 US respondents over the age of 15. We plot a three-dimensional space exploring the relationship among time, income, and life satisfaction, finding people with similar incomes with less free time have lower levels of life satisfaction. We also identify different four subpopulations, three of which have low well-being along time and income, and one with high well-being along time and income. These sub-groups significantly differ along key characteristics. Respondents with less free time and low income-the doubly poor-are more likely to be female, less educated, and have more than two kids and young children. Those with low income but lots of time, in comparison, are more likely to be black, unemployed, and have some physical or cognitive difficult. We conclude that time provides unique insights into human well-being that income alone cannot capture and should be further incorporated into research and policy on life satisfaction.
时间和收入是追求幸福（生活满意度）所需的截然不同且至关重要的资源。收入可用于购买市场商品和服务，而时间可用于与朋友和家人共度时光、休息和睡眠以及开展其他活动。然而，很少有研究探讨时间和收入的不同组合如何影响生活满意度，以及两者的增加是否都与更高水平的生活满意度呈正相关。我们利用美国时间使用调查及其幸福感模块的数据，调查生活满意度是否会随时间和收入显著变化，该模块是对5000多名15岁以上美国受访者的全国代表性样本。我们绘制了一个三维空间，探索时间、收入和生活满意度之间的关系，发现收入相似但自由时间较少的人生活满意度较低。我们还识别出四个不同的亚群体，其中三个在时间和收入方面幸福感较低，一个在时间和收入方面幸福感较高。这些亚群体在关键特征上存在显著差异。自由时间少且收入低的双重贫困人口更有可能是女性、受教育程度较低，并且有两个以上的孩子尤其是年幼的孩子。相比之下，那些收入低但时间充裕的人更有可能是黑人、失业者，并且有一些身体或认知方面的困难。我们得出结论，时间为人类福祉提供了独特的见解，这是仅靠收入无法捕捉到的，应进一步纳入有关生活满意度的研究和政策中。
