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Time Millionaires
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Time Millionaires

Meet the people pursuing the pleasure of leisure

Sirin Kale
The Guardian, 2021
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Capitalism created a design for life: People are born, they drudge for years to earn enough money to retire comfortably, and then they die. Since the dawn of the industrial era, this paradigm was an accepted norm. But the COVID-19 pandemic led many workers to re-evaluate what is important to them. Journalist Sirin Kale explores the emergence of so-called time millionaires – those who measure wealth in minutes, not dollars. They encourage people to recognize money as a false god and instead to worship at the altar of time. 

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted an increase of time millionaires – people who view time, rather than money or material wealth, as their greatest asset.

The pandemic exposed the misconception that employees work more productively in the office than in a remote environment. It shed light on the possibility of a life not dictated by the grind of career aspirations, deadlines and long hours. This revelation opened the door to the possibility that other mainstream work policies are obsolete. In the United Kingdom, some 56% of unemployed workers are not actively seeking employment, leading to a workforce crisis. Meanwhile, many employees returning to the workforce are seeking flexible hours or opportunities to work remotely and regain leisure time.

Journalist Nilanjana Roy coined the term “time millionaire” in a 2016 Financial Times column to describe the growing cohort of people who measure their wealth not in dollars or pounds but by the amount of time they spend engaged...

About the Author

Journalist Sirin Kale is a features writer for The Guardian.

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