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Abstract

This paper examines the way in which Americans use their time in an attempt to understand the role meaningfulness plays in time allocation. Data from the American Time Use Survey are used in both OLS and logistic regression models to determine the factors that influence how much people work and whether they work at all. Controlling for demographic characteristics, I use separate regressions for work, leisure, care taking, maintenance, and travel activities; this allows meaningfulness to differ by activity. I find that meaningfulness does play a significant role in the labor/leisure decision. Finding any activity meaningful is correlated with more hours worked for those in the work force, but finding non-work activities meaningful influences people to opt out. This analysis aims to shed light on how psychological factors and personal experience impact time allocation through the lens of the labor/leisure decision.

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