Are you seriously suggesting that 50 years ago, in 1968, people had copious amounts of leisure time relative to now? My recollection of 1968 was that my father was working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, plus active in church and raising my 9 year old self and at that point barely had my 19 year old brother out of the nest. I recall people complaining about the alienation of modern society, the impersonal nature of the corporate "rat race", and other analogs for the ills we are concerned with today.

I had nothing but leisure time as a 9 year old, apart from school, but I'm not under the illusion that adults are somehow busier now than adults were then.

The real problem is that back then it was being predicted that by now we'd all be working half time for the same, if not more, money. That never happened because society did not spread the wealth around. We've achieved several orders of magnitude of greater efficiency, as you suggest, but it's all gone to the elites. The real problem today is that the middle class is vanishing.

did we really? i am 66 and a half and i observed my parents working their asses off. they had little leisure time.

g

Good question? Poor time management.

we have more connections nowadays so make poorer choices your job no longer feels like it has an end emails texts etc theres more options on how to spend leisure time so we always feel there is something better out there roles have evolved woman do much less unpaid work/stay at home parent men have to a lesser degree taken on more unpaid work parenting roles so each feels there is always something needing to be done friends/family are a txt or facebook message away our phones constantly with us ring continually there is always something new to read up on or watch or discuss online or in person yet broadly speaking we have more leisure time now its just packed to the gills with options

Daylights saving time. Stole our hour.

That is a very good point indeed.