Timebanking

Description

'Timebanks are at heart a simple concept – you work for an hour, earn an hour credit, and spend an hour with anyone in your Timebank community. Timebanks don't pay taxes or get penalized in benefit reductions because they are more like charitable volunteering circles of mutual aid or relationship-based gift economies than market-based national currencies." (http://www.shareable.net/blog/just-in-time)

Characteristics

"Timebank values are:

• We are all assets - we all have something to give.

• Some work is beyond price - work has to be redefined to value whatever it takes to create healthy, socially just, and sustainable communities and that work needs to be honored, recorded and rewarded.

• Reciprocity - helping works better as a two-way street and we need to work together to build better communities.

• We need each other- people help each other to reweave communities of support, strength & trust by creating relationships through exchanges.

• Respect - every human being matters and no one should go without getting their needs met regardless of their position in life. (Stemming from this, everyone’s hour is equal in a Timebank.)"

(http://www.shareable.net/blog/just-in-time)