Time Banks: A Different Way Of Understanding What Is Valuable

A Time Bank (BdT) is a space for the exchange of services and knowledge in which the currency is the time. It is a tool of the social economy that leaves money out.

The one in Malasaña, a central neighborhood in Madrid, is made up of more than 200 neighbors who help each other meet daily needs, such as home arrangements, support in raising children, classes … For example, I repair an appliance for you and you give physics classes to a third person … This is how we have carried out more than 1,700 exchanges!

The resources available to a family that is integrated into the time bank are multiple and, almost unintentionally, ties are being built between neighbors, which often become new friends.

We are a family with two daughters aged 18 and 10 who use it regularly. It is very interesting to see how adolescents are naturally integrated into it; our eldest daughter, who is a dancer, taught oriental dance classes and thus obtained hours to exchange for other services.

We have helped with removals and given workshops on vintage gifts, drawing, German or software. In return, for example, we have met lovely people who have given private lessons to our daughters.

An excuse to discover everything you can contribute

When it comes to completing the BdT registration form and specifying what services we want to offer, the clock ticks … and we begin to reflect on the many capabilities we have.

The hours of all members are worth the same regardless of the activity they offer. In other words, the time of an electrician has the same value as that of a teacher, a housewife, a lawyer, an artist, a student or a plumber.

For example, you can give private math classes as a first option and also propose walking dogs or making a weekly menu for someone who does not have time to cook. In this way, you will be a more active partner, you will capture more hours for yourself and the exchanges will be even more dynamic.

Making unpaid work visible

The BdT is a network of mutual support at the local level, but it also has a broader projection: it allows us to fight against the stigmatization of unemployment.

In a society in which identity is closely linked to paid work, when you lose it, either because you are fired or because you retire, you lose much more. But with the BdT you have the possibility to maintain your purchasing power and continue doing jobs that you like and with which you feel good.

Time banks emerged in Canada in the 1970s as barter networks. Today they are much more than a simple response to the crisis; They are a tool for social inclusion, multidirectional and transversal in age, culture and gender.

Managed by the members interested in it, the meetings of the BdT are open and decisions are made in assembly.

What can you find in a neighborhood network?

“Malasaña se fixes” is a complementary mailing list to the BdT. It is organized by tags that identify the type of messages:

• I have. Objects we offer: “I’m going to retire a laptop, who wants it?”
• I need. Things we need from time to time : “I need a drill this weekend. Can someone lend it to me?”
• Curros. Job offers that we have found and may interest someone: “At the institute we need a physics teacher for next year.”
• Dudas. For example, inquiries about technical or legal questions about a contract …
• Currillos. They are small tasks that cannot be considered a job, but they can help the family finances: “I am looking for someone to help me with the move.”