Happy Time: Participatory Rural Appraisal of Time Use, Happiness, and Gender in Rural Uganda

Abstract

We all want to be happier, but how can we achieve that? The first step is to understand the factors that contribute to happiness. This thesis focuses on one central factor that contributes to happiness—time use. How can time allocation be adjusted in order to maximum the happiness of people?

The following chapters will explore the relationship between time use, happiness, and gender. Specifically, new data, collected through a participatory rural appraisal in three villages in rural Uganda, will be presented. The data evaluate the way in which people suffering from time poverty allocate their time, how much happiness they experience from these activities, and the differences between men and women. Do women spend more time doing things that make them happy or do men?

Exploration of the data showed certain activities where women experienced a greater amount of happiness from than the amount of time they spent doing them, but that men spent a greater amount of time on than the amount of happiness they derived from them. These discrepancies were the focus of the discussion, as they expose time allocation inequalities that can be adjusted in order to maximize the happiness of both men and women within these communities. For example, if women report feeling a greater amount of happiness from cooking than the amount of time they spend cooking, and men report spending a greater amount of time cooking than the happiness derived from cooking. If time is reallocated and women spend more time cooking, men will spend less time cooking, which maximizes both men’s and women’s happiness.

Understanding these time use trends allows existing non-governmental, non-profit, and governmental organizations the opportunity to better understand the communities they serve. In turn, poverty alleviation programs can be catered towards the local populations on a personal level, allowing for more sustainable change to be made.