What’s Trending: Time Poverty
October 21, 2025
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Drained. Overworked. No amount of time management can undo the burden of what needs to be done and the time required to make it all happen. This workforce crisis is known as time poverty.
Time poverty refers to the lack of adequate time to engage in essential activities such as work, self-care, family responsibilities, and leisure. It often affects people juggling multiple obligations, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
The concept is gaining traction because more and more workers are feeling the weight of impossible expectations to stay in peak performance mode in every aspect of their lives. Here’s what a few publications have to say on the matter.
Laura M. Giurge, Ashley V. Whillans, and Colin West partner up to work on a perspective article on the topic of time poverty with an underlying focus on how its effects are widely ignored or overlooked. From micro to macro level bystanders, their piece, “Why time poverty matters for individuals, organizations and nations,” aims to challenge the norm this phenomenon poses.
“Today, time poverty and ‘busyness’ are often seen as signals of productivity, success, and high status.”
Rather than taking fatigue, burnout, and even post-work restraint collapse as indicators of hard work, they would be better remedied if seen as a societal red flag seeking attention. How this lost grasp of time is impacting the labor force requires more research, as it “threatens well-being and economic development.”
Walker Larson reviews the infinite workday as a root cause for time poverty, citing:
“Technology and communication channels have only exacerbated the problem because they enable employers to have constant access to employees – even outside normal working hours. Work-from-homers are also more likely to feel pressure to demonstrate their productivity and engagement by remaining “tuned-in” past 5 p.m., and sometimes before 5 a.m.”
Career achievement, high performance, and climbing the corporate ladder are increasingly becoming priorities over rest and connection. But Larson continues to argue that with this uptick in workplace fixation, there is a dual fixation on perceived wealth and success. Lost isn’t just time, but so is a reasonable expectation of a professional’s capacity to work hard, play hard. Perhaps the new motto will be work hard, then harder, and then even harder because who’s going to pay me to play?
Mark Travers, Forbes contributor, takes a structured approach to offering relief from being broke for time:
“Time may be the most important resource there is.”
Time doesn’t have to be a one-sided tug of war between hustle and leisure. With increased time affluence, Travers pushes the research-backed psychological model for time perspective, management, and well-being. The resounding message of the article is that with dedication to our own fulfillment, time becomes more efficiently utilized.
A demanding work schedule, coupled with personal responsibilities, can lead to a sense of being constantly pressed for time. Many employees may find themselves working long hours and still struggling to meet family or personal needs. This can result in decreased productivity, lower job satisfaction, and even burnout.
It helps to understand that time poverty isn’t just about having long hours at work; it’s also about the quality of time spent. A healthy work-life balance, flexible work schedules, and supportive employment policies can help alleviate some of the pressures associated with time poverty. Keeping in time with personal lives, professional responsibilities, and opportunities for growth requires a clear understanding of one’s clock-in value.
Contributed by Mary Dominguez
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