Caught in a Time Crunch
Jun 15, 2010
cameron, ciw, culture, leisure, management, romanow, time
A new report by the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) has found that Canadians are caught in a time crunch and are struggling to meet the demands of modern life.
A relatively new institution, the CIW is a new index of measuring wellbeing. There has been no such standard for quality of life measurement to this point in time. Although many have for years tried to tie Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to quality of life, this has been less than successful. The CIW is based “on the understanding that a true measure of national wellbeing must link the economic, health, social, cultural and environmental realities of Canada, its people and the communities in which they live.”
In Caught in the Time Crunch: Time Use, Leisure and Culture in Canada, the CIW looks at the last 20 or so years of time use, leisure and culture trends in Canada. And it finds that Canadians in general are caught in a “time crunch” as they struggle to meet competing demands of a workplace that can reach them at all hours of the day and night; children and parents and the demands of family; and their own needs to tend to their emotional and physical wellbeing.
Chief among the report’s findings is that - although the number of Canadians spending more than 50 hours a week working has declined between 1996 and 2009 – more people are working odd hours. And that has cut into the time they would normally spend with their families doing things that they enjoy. And that, in turn, is leading to a society suffering from burnout.
As Roy Romanow, chair of the CIW advisory board puts it, “If we are on this treadmill, we will end up being less productive, less contributing to society, less knowledgeable…not only is our wellbeing being affected, but so might our productivity be affected.”
About one in five Canadian adults report being caught in a time crunch, with slightly more women than men being affected. Of perhaps even greater concern is that the report finds that the average proportion of our waking lives devoted to social and leisure activities dropped by a whopping 20 percent between 1998 and 2005.
As a remedy for the challenges we face by not having enough hours in the day, the CIW offers several recommendations. It touches on such things as the need for more family-friendly work policies (such as flex hours and more vacation time), better supports for people caring for children and parents, more walkable neighbourhoods, and increased engagement of volunteers.
The report also emphasizes that government support for leisure and culture opportunities and facilities have not kept pace with higher costs and a growing and more diverse population. There has, in fact, been a continual shift away from core funding for public agencies, non-profit agencies and volunteer organizations that are tasked with supporting leisure and cultural activities in Canadian communities.
The report can be downloaded from the CIW website at www.ciw.ca.
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