Time-related deprivations of human wellbeing   

Beyond Income: Why Time Matters

By Sofia Maier

While Latin America has seen progress in reducing income poverty, this tells only part of the story. Time is a finite and unequally distributed resource; essential not only for survival, but for care, rest, learning, and freedom. People may not appear poor in income terms, but if they lack time for basic needs or autonomy, their well-being is deeply compromised. Time poverty is thus a critical, yet largely invisible, form of deprivation. A hidden depreivation that disproportionately affects women.

Revealing the Hidden Poor: The LIMTIP Approach

The Levy Institute Measure of Time and Income Poverty (LIMTIP) integrates time-use data into traditional poverty analysis. Applied across five Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay), the methodology identifies individuals who fall into poverty once their lack of available time is accounted for. These are the hidden poor: those whose unpaid care responsibilities, long work hours, or lack of services prevent them from achieving basic well-being, even when their income seems adequate.

Gender, Care, and the Time Deficit Trap

Time poverty is not evenly shared. Women are vastly more likely to suffer time deficits due to their disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work. The study highlights how ignoring time in official metrics conceals key drivers of gender inequality and undermines the design of equitable social policies. Regular, quality time-use surveys are essential to making this reality visible; and changeable.

From transport and childcare infrastructure to working-time regulation and care services, the report argues that time-aware public policy is essential for real poverty reduction. Recognizing time as a dimension of inequality (and of freedom) is key to shaping inclusive, gender-responsive policies in the region.