Book contents
- Front matter
- Contents
- General editor's introduction
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Time and society in the eighteenth century
- 3 Leisure preference and its critics, 1700–1850
- 4 Leisure and class, 1750–1850
- 5 Work time in decline, 1830–1970
- 6 Men, work and leisure, 1850–1970
- 7 The leisured class, 1840–1970
- 8 Towards 'work–life balance'
- 9 Conclusion
- Select bibliography
- Index
Book contents
- Front matter
- Contents
- General editor's introduction
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Time and society in the eighteenth century
- 3 Leisure preference and its critics, 1700–1850
- 4 Leisure and class, 1750–1850
- 5 Work time in decline, 1830–1970
- 6 Men, work and leisure, 1850–1970
- 7 The leisured class, 1840–1970
- 8 Towards 'work–life balance'
- 9 Conclusion
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter summarises the argument running through the book. It identifies key features of the period since 1970, in particular the rise of neo-liberal economics and the decline in status of trade unions. As a result, the anticipated increase in leisure time has not occurred; if anything the opposite has happened. A further feature of the period is that excessive work for some has been accompanied by high levels of unemployment and underemployment. The outcome is a pervasive sense that time is short, and that there is little beyond personal organisation that can be done about it. The book concludes with evidence that time can be reorganised.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Time, work and leisureLife changes in England since 1700, pp. 199 - 206Publisher: Manchester University PressFirst published in: 2026
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