Does Life Satisfaction Vary with Time and Income? Investigating the Relationship Among Free Time, Income, and Life Satis
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Does Life Satisfaction Vary with Time and Income? Investigating the Relationship Among Free Time, Income, and Life Satisfaction Yuta J. Masuda1 · Jason R. Williams2 · Heather Tallis3
© Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract 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 threedimensional 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 subgroups 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. Keywords Time · Income · Life satisfaction · Poverty
* Yuta J. Masuda [email protected] 1
The Nature Conservancy, Seattle, WA 98108, USA
2
University of Washington, Seattle 98119, USA
3
The Nature Conservancy, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
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1 Introduction The question of whether one can buy happiness (heretofore referred to as life satisfaction) has engendered a rich scientific literature. Investigators of varying stripes have pursued the connection between money and life satisfaction (e.g., Easterlin 1974, 1995; Kahneman and Deaton 2010). If money is the currency of commerce, time is “the currency of life” (Krueger et al. 2009a). Thus, authors are beginning to consider time in addition to income as drivers of life satisfaction (Diener and Oishi 2000; Gilovich and Kumar 2015; Graham and Pettinato 2001; Hershfield et al. 2016; Mogilner 2010; Mogilner et al. 2018; Whillans et al. 2017) Little is known, however, about how life satisfaction varies with differing amounts of free time and income. This gap is significant. Theoretically, Becker’s (1965) theory of time allocation modeled utility (i.e. life satisfaction) as a function of time and budget constraints. Gronau (197
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