The Economics of Time
Buying Back Time
How rising incomes create demand for time-saving services like food delivery, cleaning help and ready meals, and what research says about spending to save time and happiness.
As incomes rise, people pay to save time.
Time-saving services
- Food delivery and ready-to-cook meals.
- Quick commerce delivering groceries in minutes.
- Domestic help for cooking and cleaning.
- Laundry and ironing services.
- Ride-hailing instead of public transport.
Why it grows
When your hourly earnings rise, spending money to free up an hour becomes more worthwhile. Economists call this outsourcing household production.
Happiness research
A study by researchers including Ashley Whillans, published in 2017, found that people who spent money to buy time, like paying for chores, reported greater life satisfaction than those who spent it on material goods.
Why people don’t do it more
- Guilt about paying others.
- Habit and frugality.
- Underestimating the value of their time.
Jobs created
Time-saving services create jobs for delivery workers, domestic workers and cooks, though often informal and low-paid.
A busy couple hires a cleaner twice a week, freeing their weekend. They spend the time with family and feel less stressed.
Buying time can raise well-being more than buying things.
- Rising incomes increase demand for time-saving services.
- Delivery, domestic help and ride-hailing save time.
- Research links buying time to greater life satisfaction.
- Time-saving services create many, often informal, jobs.
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