TIME: 12 perspectives on a neglected resource

Time is perhaps the scarcest resource of the 21st century and, at the same time, the least considered in political discourse. We often treat it as if it were purely a private matter: those who plan well achieve more, those who don’t have to make compromises. A genuine time policy that systematically creates free space remains the exception.

But time is much more than that. It is a social currency and a decisive locational factor. Its distribution determines how self-determined people live, what opportunities they can seize, how innovative our economy is, and how resilient our society will be in the future. Anyone who talks about social justice, prosperity, competitiveness, and participation cannot ignore the issue of time.

It determines whether parents have time for their children after work, whether caregivers can do their jobs with care, and whether entrepreneurs can bring an idea to market. Time is the invisible framework in which social rights take effect and economic potential arises. Because time cannot be multiplied, its loss weighs more heavily than the loss of money. Capital can be rebuilt under certain circumstances, but lost time is irretrievable.

Those who have little money often lose more time. Precarious jobs, for example, not only mean low incomes, but also often involve shift and night work, unpaid overtime, and a lack of predictability. Those who have financial resources, on the other hand, can buy time, for example by hiring a babysitter, a domestic helper, or buying a car that shortens their commute to work. The good news is that time allocation can be shaped. It is influenced by the welfare state, the labor market, corporate management, social expectations, and role models. All these factors determine whether and how people can freely organize their time and how much the economy and society benefit from their creativity, productivity, and innovative strength. A future-oriented time policy can reduce time poverty, strengthen time autonomy, and thus promote both social and economic progress.

The contributions gathered here illustrate this from different perspectives. After all, time is not an isolated specialist topic that can be confined to a single field of politics or research. It shapes our everyday lives and our future at so many interfaces that only a multidimensional perspective can do justice to its significance. We have invited voices from social policy who highlight the hidden barrier to social rights that is the cost of time. Social policy provides impetus that recognizes time justice as a blind spot in the discourse on justice and outlines reforms that would bring tangible relief to people. Corporate and management perspectives question cultures of presence and constant availability and show how modern work organization can promote both prosperity and quality of life. Experts from the world of employment view time as both an economic and an ecological factor. And feminist analysis of care work provides important insights into structural time conflicts that have so far received little recognition in society.

This diversity of perspectives is not only enriching, but also necessary in order to understand time policy as a connecting theme between social, economic, and ecological goals. It shows how fruitful it is when experts from different disciplines think and discuss together. It would be desirable to conduct political debates more often in this way: multi-perspective, constructive, and with an eye on the big picture. Because time is more than just one resource among many. It can open up horizons in which people can act independently, ideas can grow, and society can renew itself. Where time is lacking, creative space narrows. Where time is gained, new space unfolds.