Is the new leisure time throwing our lives out of balance?
Leisure time between happiness and suffering

The extent to which the growth in leisure time is changing all of our lives becomes clear when we look back just ten years. The new study by the BAT Leisure Research Institute, which has now been presented with the programmatic title "The Challenge of Leisure", provides an initial assessment of more than ten years of research work.

As a compendium of qualitative leisure research, but also as a trend report on future prospects, this study is a real treasure trove for all those interested in the topic of leisure, but also worthwhile reading for political decision-makers. Prof. Dr Horst W. Opaschowski, Scientific Director of the BAT Institute, analyses and reflects on the development of leisure time and the associated consequences. The new study does not content itself with analysing the situation. It also aims to provide impetus for future social development and highlight emerging problems. After all, the growing orientation towards leisure time is becoming a social design task, a leisure time challenge.

Free time equal to working time

The most important development: leisure time has taken on a life of its own, it has acquired an intrinsic value. Leisure time is no longer a counterpart to work and therefore merely a time for relaxation. Accordingly, it is no longer defined as the time when people are not working. Rather, leisure time is a time when you are free to do something. Two thirds of Germans want to "feel free" in their free time, and every second person also wants to "feel good".

The independence of leisure time in no way means that work is being devalued. On the contrary: the material necessity of work is recognised, and in the younger generation education and performance are once again important. But work is just one part of life and no longer the sole purpose of life.

In search of new life concepts

The historical loss of work-orientated ethics leads to uncertainty. When work alone still dominated our lives, things were organised. Now, left to our own devices and perplexed by the new mountain of leisure time, chance often takes over and leisure time organisation based on the chaos principle becomes the alternative. The enemies of leisure - selfishness, ruthlessness, having fun at all costs - are gaining ground. Life gets out of balance.

In the search for identity and meaning in life, three concepts of life develop side by side: the family-orientated concept of life with family and partnership at the centre, the leisure-orientated concept of life with a focus on one's own free time and the concept of life balanced between work and leisure.

In demand: The ideal leisure person

The new leisure personality is cheerful and sociable, enjoys life and has a nice home. While the fulfilment of duties was the work ideal, the joy of life is the leisure ideal. For young people, joie de vivre means having fun, enjoying themselves, for older people it means having no worries, doing something voluntarily and without time pressure.

But there is more to being a leisure person. Leisure time is free time, but not idle time. Key skills also need to be developed for leisure time, throughout life. These include Being able to occupy yourself, feeling responsible for nature and the environment, developing your own initiative. Anyone who wants to find an overall sense of life beyond work and career will continue their education, become socially involved and make a name for themselves as an individual. Social acceptance also awaits the successful leisure person in the course of a re-evaluation of unpaid work.

Threatened leisure time happiness

Ten years of qualitative research makes it clear: the road to fulfilling leisure time is a rocky one. Leisure time oscillates between a feeling of happiness and suffering. Increasingly so, it seems. This is especially true of leisure time stress. We have too much on our plate and are annoyed by leisure activities. If there is a lack of hectic activity, boredom prevails and you feel lonely. Inner restlessness displaces the leisure that we actually long for.

But the pressure of suffering also weighs on holidays, the undisputed highlight of all leisure activities, driving our favourite child, the car, and not least on the growing desire to consume.

With transport to the holiday destination becoming more and more stressful every year, more and more holidaymakers are finding fault with their destination, not to mention the impact on nature and the environment.

No sooner had the dream of mobility been realised than it soon became a nightmare. Mass motorisation is more like a horror trip, the joy of life is mostly related to the joy of the car, but hardly to the pleasure of driving.

While the world of shopping is increasingly becoming a world of experience and shopping is becoming a popular leisure activity, it is clear that what is particularly pleasurable is associated with consumption. Moreover, the more intensive the consumption, the greater the pleasure. Critics see dangers for personal development, family cohesion and social coexistence in general in this commercialisation of leisure time.

The future opportunities of leisure

The new study by the BAT Leisure Research Institute clearly answers one question: leisure time will play an increasingly important role in our lives. This can be seen from the general conditions alone, such as shorter working hours, relatively increasing leisure budgets and the industrialisation of leisure time.

Changes in leisure behaviour are also discernible. For example, cycling is one of the most popular leisure activities of the last decade, followed by gardening. The losers are handicrafts, hiking and winter sports. Television and football have stagnated.

The change in values will have a greater impact on positive leisure time with the arrival of the younger generation, who no longer have to retrain, who work less physically and who have often been able to pursue sports and other hobbies since childhood. 

The zeitgeist of the 90s also sounds optimistic: it's a pleasure to live. Peace in Europe, more free time, money and leisure activities than ever before, and above all more personal freedom than ever before. When asked in a representative survey what people would like if they had more free time, travelling and going on excursions came out on top, followed by taking advantage of cultural events and continuing their education. 

On the downside, the majority of the population fears that people will spend their free time rushing from one consumer product to another at an ever-increasing pace, never coming to their senses. There is already a recognisable trend towards two-hour activities: Doing something new every two hours, going to the next party, watching a second film, changing pubs.

One in two people believe that people tend to behave passively in their free time and prefer to spend it organised by others.

The loss of attractiveness of marriage and family can also be attributed to self-centred leisure interests. Being single and having a group of like-minded friends are leisure-time activities.

But while these are all trends, the real problem, according to the Hamburg leisure researchers, is that people are largely left alone to cope with their growing leisure time. Although they see the tantalising prospects, many are unable to put their wishes into practice.

One reason for this is that leisure time in Germany is so much a private matter that it is not really recognised by politicians. The opportunities of the new leisure orientation can only be utilised by integrating leisure into educational, cultural, family, environmental and transport policy. A citizen-centred leisure policy is essential for the personal well-being of citizens in the future.