CHALLENGING TIME POVERTY - TAKE
BACK YOUR TIME
Are you, or your friends or
relatives, working more now but enjoying it less? Does your family’s schedule
feel like a road race? If so, you’re not alone. Millions of people are
overworked, over-scheduled and just plain stressed out.
· Time stress threatens our health. It leads to fatigue, accidents and injuries. It reduces time
for exercise and encourages consumption of calorie-laden fast foods.
· Time stress threatens our marriages,
families and relationships as we find less time for
each other, less time to care for our children and elders, less time to just
hang out.
· It weakens our communities. We have less time to know our neighbors, supervise our young
people, and volunteer.
· It reduces employment as fewer people are hired and then required to work longer
hours, or are hired for poor part-time jobs without benefits.
· It leaves us little time for
ourselves, for self-development, or for
spiritual growth.
· It even contributes to the
destruction of our environment. Studies show
that lack of time encourages use of convenience and throwaway items and reduces
recycling.
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT THIS
EPIDEMIC OF TIME PRESSURE?
The main goal of TAKE BACK YOUR
TIME DAY is to call attention to the problem and begin the public conversation
about what to do about it. Some of the solutions will be personal, each in our
own lives. Others will be cultural, as we evolve new norms about life balance.
Still others will involve voluntary changes in the workplace and children’s
activity programs, or changes through collective bargaining agreements. We talk
about why work/life balance is good for both employees and employers; about how
to create decent part-time jobs and about solutions for low-income workers who
can’t afford to work less.
The movement for a more balanced
life began on TAKE BACK YOUR TIME DAY 2003, but it hasn’t stopped there. In
every community, Take Back Your Time organizations will develop campaigns to
win personal, cultural, workplace, and political solutions to time famine.
Get more ideas for Taking Back Your Time at www.timeday.org