Time Banks in the United Kingdom: An Examination of the Evolution

Time banks allow people to exchange and trade their skills; an hour for an hour. Today the United Kingdom (UK) has built a diverse ecosystem around times and skills sharing of both generic (e.g., TimeBanking UK, Communities Together) and specialist skills (e.g., Frontline19). This chapter defines the main characteristics and benefits of time banks. It also provides a typology of platforms that can be found in the UK based on the types of transactions and the types of assets being exchanged. The chapter analyses the evolution of time banks in the UK and how the COVID-19 pandemic has fostered the development of new initiatives. Finally, the chapter also includes a discussion of the attempts to measure the economic and social impact of time banks.