Time Poverty Thresholds and Rates for the US Population

Time constraints, like money constraints, affect Americans’ well-being. This paper defines what it means to be time poor based on the concepts of necessary and committed time and presents time poverty thresholds and rates for the US population and certain subgroups. Multivariate regression techniques are used to identify the key variables associated with discretionary time and time poverty. The data confirm the idea that individuals in households with children have less discretionary time and are thus more likely to be time poor than those in households without children. Controlling for other household characteristics, an additional child reduces a household adult’s daily discretionary time by 35 min. Surprisingly, while one might expect the necessary and committed activities required of an individual to be less in a two-adult household with children than in a one-adult household with children because child care can be shared, the data show that the presence of such a second adult only marginally reduces the necessary and committed time burden of an individual household member. Perhaps even more surprisingly, household income is not a statistically significant correlate of discretionary time or time poverty.     

Temporal Aspects of Life Satisfaction

Time pressure is a familiar phenomenon. The quantity of spare time people have clearly effects their satisfaction with their leisure and with their life as a whole. But so too, we show, does how much control people have over how much spare time they have. We measure this through an indicator of ‘discretionary time’, which proves to be equally or more important than spare time itself in these connections.     

The Impact of Having a Baby on the Level and Content of Women’s Well-Being

The primary objective of this study was to more fully understand the impact of having a baby on women’s well-being by attending to both the level and the content of well-being. To cover the judgemental and affective aspects of well-being we included global measures of life satisfaction and well-being and affective experience measures derived from the day reconstruction method. In a sample of 19 first-time mothers no differences between pre and postnatal reports of general life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and experienced positive and negative affect were found, suggesting that the arrival of the newborn baby does not universally impact on women’s level of well-being. Changes in the content of well-being were studied by examining changes in the way women experience specific activities and interactions with various social partners. There appeared to be an upward shift in experienced positive affect during active leisure and a slight decrease in negative affect during time spent with relatives. The results are discussed in light of previously documented changes across the transition to motherhood in negative mood states, time use, women’s evaluation of various aspects of daily life, and relational satisfaction.     

Relating social welfare to life satisfaction in the postmodern era of Hong Kong

Social welfare is supposedly beneficial not only to the needy receiving it but to citizens in general who expect social welfare to help the needy. Whereas direct benefits to the needy represent the gratification of material needs, the fulfillment of citizens–expectation registers an idealistic path to life satisfaction. These materialistic and idealistic paths may also be useful for explaining citizens–perception about the adequacy of social welfare. The reciprocal relationships between adequacy perception and life satisfaction are subject to an empirical study based on panel survey data obtained from Hong Kong, China. Results lend more support to the idealistic explanation than to the materialistic explanation in that the citizen’s postmodern orientation appeared to moderate the reciprocal relationships in some ways, whereas most of the citizen’s material conditions did not manifest moderating effects. Accordingly, the needy did not benefit from the perceived adequacy of social welfare and their life satisfaction did not have pervasive effects on the perceived adequacy in return. Results support the view that postmodernization would erode citizens–support for social welfare.     

The Quality of School Life: Teacher-Student Trust Relationships and the Organizational School Context

In exploring the quality of schools’ social system, this study provides insight into in which types of schools students may encounter barriers in developing supportive teacher-student relationships because of teachers exposing low levels of trust in students. Student culture and teachability perceptions are assessed as incentives for teachers’ perceptions of students’ trustworthiness. Information was gathered from 2,104 teachers across a representative sample of 84 secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). A measure for trust in students was derived from the trust scales developed by Hoy and Tschannen-Moran. Multilevel analyses reveal that teacher perceptions of students’ teachability strongly predict teacher trust. This underscores the importance of teacher perceptions of students’ ability to meet the expectations imposed on them with regard to the formation of trust. Additionally, we show that teacher trust is affected by the organizational school context, although the academic orientation of the student culture plays no role.     

Time Use Patterns Between Maintenance,Subsistence and Leisure Activities: A Case Study in China

The Chinese government conducted its first time use survey of the activities of Chinese individuals in 2008. Activities were classified into three broad types, maintenance activities, subsistence activities and leisure activities. Time use patterns were defined by an individuals’ time spent on maintenance, subsistence and leisure activities each day. We analyzed the time use patterns of different population segments, such as gender, region, age, employment status, and income. Rural residents spend 2 h per day more on SA than urban residents. Five of the employment status categories; migrant workers, full-time students, retirees, the unemployed, and Home-makers, each have unique time schedules. Moreover, time use patterns vary greatly between the different age groups and different income levels. The relationships between the time spent on maintenance, subsistence, and leisure activities were analyzed. Time spent on subsistence activities each day were negatively correlated with time spent on maintenance and leisure activities. The time spent on maintenance activities was positively correlated with the time spent on leisure activities. The ratio of time spent on maintenance, subsistence and leisure activities in China is compared with that in Japan, America and New Zealand. A new term, Time Structure, was coined to describe the ratio of individual time spent on maintenance, subsistence and leisure activities. The time structure in China is 60:24:16 and differs from the structures found in the other countries examined.     

School Attachment Among Taiwanese Adolescents: The Roles of Individual Characteristics,Peer Relationships,and Teacher Well-Being

This study examines the effects of individual characteristics (school grade and gender), peer relationships (peer support and peer victimization), and the subjective well-being of teachers (depression and job satisfaction) on students’ attachment to school. Twenty-four classes in grades 7 through 9 at two middle schools in Taipei were selected as the sample, and survey data were obtained from students and homeroom teachers. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to conduct a two-level analysis on 720 students and 24 teachers with valid data on all research variables. A series of models were constructed and tested stepwise. The results indicated that students’ average school attachment scores varied significantly among classes. A higher school grade was associated with reduced attachment while no gender difference was found. Peer support had a positive influence and peer victimization had a negative effect on school attachment. Finally, job satisfaction of the homeroom teachers positively contributed to students’ attachment to school, but teachers’ depression had no significant effect. Implications for creating a positive classroom environment were discussed.     

Valuing Time: A Conference Overview

The article provides an overview of the development of the field of time use studies. It provides an intellectual history charting the various interests that have shaped the growing applications of this broad social indicator. Recent applications, reflected in this special issue, are (a) interpreting the meaning of leisure, time; (b) the social and environmental consequences of affluence; and (c) non-market work, parenting and balance between work and family. New approaches to trends in average leisure time have attempted to interpret the impact of social and technological change on the meaning of leisure. These approaches suggest that the ‘economic emergence of women’ rather than the ‘IT revolution’ has been the more influential trend and that being ‘busy’ may have replaced conspicuous idleness as the signifier of social status. These new forms of social organization in advanced societies have also attracted a great deal of research on children’s use of time, parenting and work-family balance. An important new application for time-use information has been in the study of ‘diseases of affluence’, the health consequences of increasing sedentary activities, and over-eating, the environmental consequences of consumerism, all of which leads to the need to reassess the economic significance of activities that occur beyond the market. A special feature of this article is an extensive review of approaches to valuation (in dollars and cents) of the outputs of unpaid (non-market) work. The article provides a framework for what activities it makes sense to value and the current ideas about ‘best practice’ methods of valuation.     

The Relative Contribution of Health Status and Quality of Life Domains in Subjective Health in Old Age

To analyze the influence of different health status dimensions and quality of life (QoL) domains on older adults’ subjective health, and to assess the role that residential satisfaction plays in these relationships. A QoL survey was conducted on a representative sample of the community-dwelling older adult population in Madrid province (Spain). Logistic regression models were applied to studying: the health status dimensions associated with satisfaction with health; the relationship between satisfaction with health and other QoL domains; and, the influence of these domains on satisfaction with life. Sociodemographic and residential characteristics were included in all the models. The determinants of satisfaction with health in the first model were: mobility, usual activities, morbidity, and satisfaction with neighborhood. QoL domains associated with health were: leisure activities, neighborhood, and finances. Satisfaction with life was explained by these three domains, along with age, family and health. In sum, leisure, neighborhood, and finances showed a positive effect on satisfaction with health and with life.     

Leisure and quality of life in an international and multicultural context: what are major pathways linking leisure to quality of life?

This paper aims at advancing the conceptualization of leisure as a contributor to quality of life (QOL) in an international and multicultural context, based on an extensive and critical review of literature on leisure and QOL from a global, international perspective. Given the central role of culture in conceptualizing this notion, this paper gives attention to various cultural contexts world-wide. To illustrate the diversity of our societies, examples are introduced specifically from three culturally unique contexts in this paper – i.e., Asian, Middle-East, and Indigenous contexts. Also, some examples are drawn from other cultural groups in global and international contexts, particularly, in non-western contexts. Then, the final section of this paper aims at integrating and synthesizing the knowledge gained from this review to develop a tentative/working proposition about how leisure can contribute to QOL from international and cross-cultural perspectives. Specifically, based on such integration, this paper identifies and describes major pathways linking leisure to QOL. Overall, an overarching theme common to almost all cultural contexts examined appears to be the role of leisure-like activities as a context or space for creating meanings which then help to promote the quality of people’s lives. Major pathways or mechanisms that can facilitate meaning-making and life-quality-enhancement highlighted in this review include: (a) positive emotions and well-being experienced from leisure, (b) positive identities and self-esteem gained from leisure, (c) social and cultural connections and a harmony developed through leisure, and (d) leisure’s contribution to learning and human development across the life-span. Also, emphasized in this paper is the role of leisure as a context for realizing and utilizing human strengths and resilience. It is important, however, to stress that in people’s quest for a meaningful life, the benefits of meaning-making through leisure involve both “remedying the bad” and “enhancing the good,” as shown throughout this paper. Despite these benefits, we should not ignore that leisure experiences are socially and culturally constructed and shaped by the inequalities of society. Thus, the reality of power imbalance and inequalities should be acknowledged and appropriately addressed socially, culturally, and politically. Particularly, providing culturally relevant and meaningful leisure opportunities for less privileged population groups world-wide is clearly a top priority.     

Effects of ability mixing in high school on adulthood earnings: quasiexperimental evidence from South Korea

We estimate impacts of ability mixing compared to ability grouping in high school education on students’ adulthood earnings. To overcome endogeneity and selection problems that plagued the previous studies, we exploit a policy experiment in South Korea in the 1970s, which changed the education regime of general high schools from grouping to mixing in major cities. We find that the mixing treatment has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on average adulthood earnings. We also find that while mixing has positive effects on low ability students’ adulthood earnings, it has smaller positive or even negative effects on higher ability students.      

Social connectedness among international students at an Australian university

A representative sample of undergraduate and postgraduate international students at a large Australian university (n = 979, 64% females) completed a mail-back survey examining their perceptions of social connectedness. Four aspects of social connectedness were investigated: (1) connectedness in Melbourne, (2) social mixing and interaction with co-culturals and Australians, (3) involvement in organisations, associations and groups, and (4) connections to home and family. The majority of students report being well-connected to others in Melbourne, although some desire increased personal support from people who know and care about them. Connectedness in Melbourne is related to students’ cultural background and communication skills in the new culture and their evaluation of their perceived academic progress. Students from Asian countries reveal different patterns to other students, especially in the relationships between connectedness and interactions with co-culturals. Awareness of these and other differences among international students from varying cultural backgrounds can help target assistance in achieving a sense of well-being.     

A Note on Student Quality of Life

An aggregated sample of students (n = 3407) from the University of Northern British Columbia covering 7 of the 8 years from 1998 to 2005 is analyzed to show the relative and combined explanatory power of some life domain (e.g., satisfaction with family relations) and university-related variables (e.g., satisfaction with UNBC instructors) on some global quality-of-life variables (e.g., life satisfaction). It was found that, in combination with the life domain variables, the university-related variables added practically nothing to our explanatory power. The most powerful university-related variable was students’ satisfaction with their instructors.     

Parental transfers, student achievement, and the labor supply of college students

Using nationally representative data from the NLSY97 and a simultaneous equations model, this paper analyzes the financial motivations for and the effects of employment on U.S. college students’ academic performance. The data confirm the predictions of the theoretical model that lower parental transfers and greater costs of attending college increase the number of hours students work while in school, although students are not very responsive to these financial motivations. They also provide some evidence that greater hours of work lead to lower grade point averages (GPAs).     

Time use and leisure: Subjective and objective aspects

This paper utilizes data from the 1981 Canadian Time Use Pilot Study and from a small Halifax time-budget study to look at subjective and contextual dimensions of leisure for women and men. The Canadian study (n=2685) had information on the time spent in daily activities as well as on the settings and social contexts of those activities. The Halifax study included similar time-budget information on 60 married couples, but also incorporated subjective ratings of all diary events in terms of perceived work or leisure. Using subjective weightings from the Halifax study, estimates of subjective leisure were made for different categories of daily activity and for different Canadian population subgroups. Hypercodes were used to look at the effect of social roles on leisure time, and the AID procedure was used to analyze the contextual dimensions of leisure for men and women. The results show that objective activity and well as subjective leisure vary by population subgroup. Constraints to leisure include being female, being employed, having children, and, to some degree, being married. Of the contextual dimensions, subjective leisure was shown to be influenced primarily by type of objective activity. Location, time of day and day of the week also influenced leisure designations, but to a lesser extent. This study suggests the potential usefulness of subjective weightings of activities in order to gain a greater understanding of leisure patterns and participation.     

Impact of Arts-Related Activities on the Perceived Quality of Life

The aim of this investigation was to measure the impact of arts-related activities on the perceived or experienced quality of life. In the fall of 2006 a questionnaire was mailed out to a random selection of 2000 households in each of five British Columbia communities, and 1027 were returned completed. The total and individual community samples should be regarded as merely representative of some British Columbian residents who had some interest in the arts. Sixty-six kinds of arts-related activities were identified in the questionnaire, and five indexes were created to help explain people’s motives for engaging in such activities. Seven different scales were used to measure respondents’ overall assessment of their lives, (1) self-reported general health (5-point scale), (2) satisfaction with life as a whole (7-point scale), (3) satisfaction with the overall quality of life (7-points), (4) happiness with life as a whole (7-points), (5) satisfaction with life as a whole (5-item index), (6) contentment with life (5-item index), (7) subjective wellbeing (4-item index). In the context of all our predictors, based on the relative impact of all the arts-related activities and the satisfaction obtained from those activities on our seven overall life assessment variables, it is fair to say that such activities and their corresponding satisfaction contributed relatively little. While this may seem incredible (especially to arts enthusiasts), it is important to keep in mind the initial condition “in the context of all our predictors” and the qualifier “relatively”. Our inability to discover greater marginal or total impacts of arts-related activities on the perceived quality of life may be the result of our use of the wrong search instruments for the great variety of values involved. It is an open question whether we used the best tools and found as much as there was to find or whether better tools would have found more.     

Measuring the Effect of Tourism Services on Travelers’ Quality of Life: Further Validation

Neal, Sirgy and Uysal (1999) developed a model and a measure to capture the effect of tourism services on travelers quality of life (QOL). They hypothesized that travelers overall life satisfaction is derived from satisfaction with the primary life domains (e.g., family, job, health). Specifically, overall life satisfaction is derived from two sources of satisfaction, namely satisfaction with non-leisure life domains and satisfaction with leisure life. Satisfaction with leisure life is derived from satisfaction with leisure experiences that take place at home and satisfaction with travel/tourism experiences. Satisfaction with travel/tourism experiences results from satisfaction with trip reflections of the traveler (e.g., what the traveler remembers regarding perceived freedomfrom control, perceived freedom from work, involvement, arousal, mastery, and spontaneity experienced during the trip) and satisfaction with travel/tourism services. Satisfaction with travel/tourism services was hypothesized further to be derived from satisfaction with the service aspects of travel/tourism phases – pre-trip services, en-route services, destination services, and return-trip services. The model was tested using a study of university faculty and staff. The original model was extended by hypothesizing the moderation effect of length of stay. Specifically, we hypothesized that the relationshipsin the model are likely to be more evident in relation to travelers who have more time to experience the tourism services than those who do not. A survey of 815 consumers of travel/tourism services who reside in Southwest Virginia was conducted. As predicted, the data confirmed hypotheses as established in the original model. Satisfaction with tourism services affects travelers QOL through the mediating effects of satisfaction with travel/tourism experiences, and satisfaction with leisure life. Furthermore, the moderating effect of length of stay was confirmed by the data. In sum, this replication and extension study provided additional validational support of the original tourism services satisfaction measure in relation to QOL-related measures.     

Retrospective and prospective evaluations of environmental quality under urban renewal as determinants of residents’ subjective quality of life

Claims about the impacts of environmental quality associated with urban renewal on the resident’s subjective quality of life are more speculative than empirically grounded. To clarify the impacts of environmental quality under urban renewal, this study surveyed 876 residents living in housing surrounding seven urban renewal sites in Hong Kong. It shows that environmental quality, both perceived (retrospectively) during and expected (prospectively) after urban renewal, exhibited positive effects on the resident’s subjective quality of life. Furthermore, it reveals that the subjective quality of life of the resident with higher education was less responsive to environmental quality perceived during urban renewal. The findings imply that more measures to mitigate the adverse social impact of urban renewal are preferably available to residents with less education.     

Welfare Participation and Time Use in China

Using the newly available China Family Panel Studies 2010 survey data and a propensity score matching method, this study examines the possible influence of participation in China’s primary welfare program, Dibao, on household head’s time use pattern in both urban and rural areas. We find that Dibao lowered recipients’ time spent on various leisure and social activities and increased their time spent on unspecified activities or being idle for both urban and rural residents. Urban Dibao recipients also tended to spend less time on education activities, while rural Dibao recipients spent less time on work activities but more time on personal care and household activities. These findings provide pioneering evidence on the possible link between welfare participation and time use patterns in the global welfare literature. As Dibao continues to expand, the empirical evidence from this article suggests that Dibao might have some unintended adverse effects on recipients, including less time spent on leisure and social activities, reduced time on work and education activities, and more time on being idle. Future reforms of Dibao and its supplementary policies and programs need to consider how best to promote both the economic and holistic well-being of the participants.

     

Life satisfaction and family structure among adolescents in Hong Kong

Relationships between family structure and perceived life satisfaction in overall life and five domains of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, family life, friendships, school experience, myself, and where I live were examined among 4,502 Chinese adolescent secondary school students in Hong Kong. Bivariate analyses showed that economic status was not a significant risk factor, but gender, level of study, and migrant status had to be controlled to examine the life satisfaction-family structure relations. Logistic regression analyses found that in overall life, with adolescents living with two parents as standard for comparisons, adolescents living with mother had similar life satisfaction, but those living with father only, and those with no parents, or single parent with other adults had very much higher risk of life dissatisfaction. Specifically, the risks associated with the adverse family structures were most excessive in the domain of ‘family life’.