Squeezed for Time? American Inequality and the Shortage of Leisure

Most informed observers recognize that American inequality has worsened over the past generation. The gulf separating high-income families from families in the middle class and on the bottom has widened noticeably, especially since 1979.

Many middle-class Americans also have a nagging sense that they are running harder and faster merely to stay in the same place, that the time it takes to earn a decent living, care for a home, and rear their children has increased, leaving them with less leisure time.