Time Co-Ops and Time Banking are ideas that most have not heard of, and those that have may not really understand beyond the fundamental concept of freely giving of your time to others in a community.
This understanding is certainly not wrong and could serve a person or community very well, even if they never explored the idea more deeply. But I would like to look at this surprisingly philosophical theory of time co-ops and time banking from a deeper perspective. To begin with, let’s address the primary definition and fundamental mechanisms of a time co-op or a time bank.
Time co-op(ing) or time banking is a system where people donate time and service to one other, in a community, and the value is not simply measured in the amount of time spent or in the arbitrary monetary value of said time or service. In a time co-op or time banking system, community members offer their skills, talents, time, and services to others in their community and sometimes are awarded “time credits” in recognition of the services that they offered to others. These time credits can then be passed on to other members of the community if they so choose. Time co-ops and time banking promotes community building, reciprocity, and the exchange of skills and resources among community members in a way that is honored and without class or educational discrimination. It’s often used to strengthen communities, promote social inclusion, and address local needs, among other things.
One of the core components of a time co-op or time banking system is the “time credit”, and it is this that we are going to look at more closely.
Are Time Credits Money?
People that are not familiar with time co-ops and time banking tend to see time credits as an account of, or store of value; but we will see that it is actually something very different.
Frequently, time credits are mistakenly thought of as a form of “money” or “currency” – I spend an hour doing something for you and “earn” a time credit that I can later “spend” getting something from someone else.
When thought of like this, we can see why people have a mistaken idea of what time credits are. Let’s look at what “money” is and then look at what time credits really are and we will see that they are two completely different ideas.
What is Money; the Market Economy?
Money is a medium of exchange that is widely accepted in transactions for goods, services, or debts. It serves as a unit of account, a store of value, and a standard of deferred payment. In essence, money facilitates economic transactions by simplifying the process of buying and selling, as it eliminates the need for barter.
Money can take various forms, including coins, banknotes, electronic balances in bank accounts, and digital currencies. Its essential functions include acting as a medium of exchange, a unit of account to measure value, and a store of value to hold purchasing power over time and resources. All of these ideas are based on a market economy way of thinking. Let’s explain.
A market economy is an economic system in which the production, distribution, and allocation of goods, resources and services are primarily determined by the interactions of individuals and businesses within a market. In a market economy, decisions regarding what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce are largely guided by supply and demand forces in the marketplace, rather than by government intervention or central planning.
Key characteristics of a market economy include:
- Private ownership of resources: Individuals and businesses have the right to own property, land, capital, and other resources, and they can use these resources to produce goods and services for the market.
- Market competition: Multiple buyers and sellers operate in the market, competing with one another to buy and sell goods and services for profit. Competition helps drive efficiency, innovation, and productivity.
- Price mechanism: Prices of goods and services are determined by the forces of supply and demand in the market. When demand for a product increases relative to its supply, its price tends to rise, and vice versa.
- Profit motive: Businesses seek to maximize profits by producing goods and services that consumers demand, at prices that cover production costs and generate returns for the owners or shareholders.
- Minimal government intervention: In a pure market economy, the government’s role is limited to enforcing property rights, contracts, and ensuring competition. Government intervention is typically minimal compared to planned economies.
We can see that, essentially, a market economy is profit driven and money is the measure and store of value. Therefore, money only has power and value in a market economy-centric model.
But time co-ops and time banking, on the other hand, is not at all market economy-driven, it is, rather, purely core economy-driven. So, what does that mean?
What is the Core Economy?
The core economy refers to the foundational economic activities that are essential for the functioning of a society but are often unpaid or underrecognized. This includes, but is not limited to, activities that are often not widely monetized such as caregiving, household work, volunteerism, and community engagement. These activities are crucial for social stability, functioning and overall well-being but may not be directly monetized or included in traditional economic measurements like GDP.
Time co-op(ing) and time banking focus on the ideas of the core economy; community building, mutual aid, neighborliness, and good-will. In time co-ops or time banks, we don’t even attempt to “monetize” these ideas or activities; we do, however, honor the volunteer time that is spent within a community.
But why? If I help my neighbor or they help me, why recognize it in any formal way? This is a crucial question to answer if one wants to truly understand time co-ops and time banking. So, let’s try to answer it.
What Exactly are Time Credits and Why Do We Use Them?
Imagine a community or society that was based, not on how much you could get from others but rather, how much you could give to others…not on the accumulation of monetary capital but rather, the accumulation of social capital. Would that not be a more ideal way to live?
Time co-ops and time banking transforms the conventional idea of value by recognizing that every person’s time is a valuable resource that can be offered for both personal and social benefit.
As community members offer time helping one another, a reciprocal network of empowerment blossoms, a network woven with the threads of shared struggle and purpose.
The power of time co-ops and time banking lies not only in the tangible time given and received but also in the intangible bonds forged. It promotes a spirit of interconnectedness, reminding us that our strengths and abilities are not measured solely by our bank accounts.
What’s important to understand here is that time credits are not a way of compensating someone for their time, it is rather a means of promoting participation within a community through honoring service and offering a sort of gamification of social and community participation.
The time credit is simply a tool that time co-ops and time banking communities use for building and maintaining community cohesion and ensuring that a community remains active in helping one another. It’s not at all a “currency”, it’s a way to recognize the volunteer activities within a community – and when members of a community recognize the efforts of their fellow community members, it promotes healthy, happy and thriving communities.
So, if you have been thinking of time credits as a form of money or currency, I hope this has broken you of that bad habit and turned-you-on to one of the deeper ideas of time co-ops and time banking; just help others, not for compensation but, because it’s the right thing to do.
Helping others is its own reward.