Time Pressures and Low-income Families: The Implications for ‘Social’ Transport Policy in Europe

Abstract

This article draws attention to the complexity of the social arrangements which form the background to travel decisions and travel behaviour in the low income context. It focuses on the 'borrowing' and 'repaving' of 'time favours' amongst low-income households arguing that these inter-household exchanges of favours are used to overcome, albeit partially, the financial resource constraints of low-income budgets. Using evidence from Merseyside, the article explores the interaction between financial constraints and time constraints in the making of travel arrangements in low-income households. A vignette, drawn from the Mersey evidence, provides a concrete illustration of the importance of these factors in practical family life. Moving beyond the sociological analysis of inter-household support structures, the article indicates new high technology European public transport developments which can usefully be harnessed as part of social policy to overcome some of the constraints which low-income families presently experience in gaining access to critical resources such as health. (A)