The Relationship between Time Budget Structures and Subjective Well-Being in Urban and Rural Areas in Russia

In modern Russia, the government has shown concerns for the well-being of the "backward regions". However, the existing government programs develop their measures based on objective indicators of well-being, neglecting the subjective evaluations. Although previous research on urban-rural differences in subjective well-being (SWB) suggests that there is inequality in subjective evaluations between different types of settlements, they yield conflicting results. Yet, while time allocation is a potential predictor of subjective well-being, this relationship has not yet been studied in the context of differences between urban and rural residents. This study aims to determine the relationship between time allocation and the subjective well-being of urban and rural residents and the differences in the nature and strength of this relationship for urban and rural dwellers. Based on survey data from the "Economic Behavior of Households" project (6,000 respondents from 55 regions of the Russian Federation), the study examines differences in subjective well-being and time-use structures of residents of different types of settlements and investigates the relationship between subjective well-being and time expenditures on various activities. The results show that the key categories of time expenditures associated with life satisfaction for residents of different types of settlements are four classes of activities: (1) childcare and activities with children; (2) sleep, eating, and self-care; (3) housework; and (4) paid work. For different types of settlements, the final set of predictors of subjective well-being differed, as did the nature of their relationship and their position relative to other predictors.