Complementary currencies are not only for the cash-poor. Take St Gallen, a wealthy Swiss city that introduced time banking in 2012 in order to provide more care for elderly people. Its scheme, Zeitvorsoge, literally meaning ‘time-provision’, invites every citizen over the age of 60 to earn care-time credits by helping a local elderly resident with everyday tasks such as shopping and cooking, while also keeping them company. This makes it an ideal way for senior citizens to build up a ‘time pension’ to cover their own future needs for care and companionship. Zeitvorsoge distributes an initial
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