Uffe Enokson
Dept. of Social Work, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Download article
Published in: Proceedings of the Sustaining Everyday Life Conference
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 38:28, p. 171-182
Published: 2010-11-05
ISBN:
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
This article focuses on the division of work and private life in a Swedish community. An interview study sheds some light on the diversity of time frames experienced by people living inside and outside the labour market. It examines in which way this duality is paving the way for new patterns of inequality. The purpose is to explore the living conditions of two groups in society: the time-poor who are established in the labour force that experience great demands on their efficiency and educational level and the time-rich who do not have a natural place in the labour market. People experience an unbalanced division of time and resources not only in work situations but also in everyday life in the home and in leisure time. The time-rich can experience having small margins partly due to a lack of social networks and social recognition; while the time-poor experience it due to multiple and unwieldy social roles in and outside labour market. Society has tried to cope with these two different problems in completely different ways; although both problems are related to income; one through salaried work and the other through income support. The results do not only exhibit the polarizing tendencies in terms of time and income. There are also similar differences concerning social participation. Time-rich people have a hard time finding alternative social networks outside the labour market. At the same time; many life course changes that require both a lot of time and a lot of money occur in time-poor living conditions. A restriction analyses; inspired by the time geographical approach; shows a diversity of time patterns and timespace restrictions between different life forms in everyday life. When the individuals’ whole life situation is taken into consideration; the diversity of time patterns creates restrictions that oppose strategies for work/life balance in everyday life.
Enokson; U (2009) Livspusslet: Tid som välfärdsfaktor; Växjö University press.
Fitzpatrick; T (2004) ‘Social policy and time’; Time & Society; Vol.13; No.2/3; pp.197-219.
Friberg; T (1990) Kvinnors vardag: om kvinnors arbete och liv; anpassningsstrategier i tid och rum; Lund University press.
Furåker; B: Håkansson; K & Karlsson; J.Ch (eds.) (2007) Flexibility and stability in working life; London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Held; M (2001) ‘Sustainable development from a temporal perspective’; Time & Society; Vol.10; No.2/3; pp.351-366.
Honneth; A (2003) Erkännande – praktisk-filosofiska studier; Göteborg: Daidalos.
Hägerstrand; T (1991) Om tidens vidd och tingens ordning; Stockholm: Statens råd för byggnadsforskning.
Hägerstrand; T (2002) Tid och kultur; i Spänningsfält; taktiken – politiken – framtiden; Stockholm: Carlssons.
Höjrup; T (1983) Det glemte folk – livsformer og centraldirigering; Köpenhamn: SBI.
Jacobsen; L & Karlsson; J.C (1993) Arbete och kärlek – en utveckling av livsformsanalys; Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Lindskog; H. (2002) Tidrika och tidfattiga – de nya samhällsklasserna; Köpenhamn: HelDag.
Raddon; A (2007) ‘Timescapes of flexibility and insecurity’; Time & Society; Vol.16; No.1; pp.61-82.
Reisch; L.A (2001) ‘Time and wealth: The role of time and temporalities for sustainable patterns of consumption’; Time & Society; Vol.10; No.2/3; pp.367-385.
Sanne; C (1995) Arbetets tid: Om arbetstidsreformer och konsumtion i välfärdsstaten; Stockholm: Carlssons.
Tilly; C (2000) Beständig ojämlikhet; Lund: Arkiv förlag.
Timmermans; H: Arentze; T & Joh; C-H (2002) ‘Analysing time-space behavour: New approaches to old problems’; Progress in Human Geography; Vol.26; No.2; pp.175-190.
Tyrkkö; A (1999) I skärningspunkten mellan liv och föräldraskap; Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet.
Åquist; A-C (1992) Tidsgeografi i samspel med samhällsteori; Lund University press.
