Aalborg University researcher Toke Haunstrup argues that Danes could gain wellbeing by consuming less, in an interview published by DR on September 12, 2026.
DR reports that Haunstrup, a senior researcher and PhD at Aalborg University, has cycled through Denmark and spoken with people who chose to live on less. His research area is everyday sustainability and resource consumption. He is out with a new book, “Nok: Fra overflod til trivsel”.
According to DR, Haunstrup discusses frugality with psychologist Svend Brinkmann on the P1 program “Brinkmanns Briks”. He says a far smaller footprint on the planet is possible. It requires rethinking ideas about the good life and about how society is organized, he says.
Per Haunstrup, research shows that much of the time people spend today is tied to some form of commercial consumption. Even being with children often involves eating out, paid experiences or streaming services. He links this to an economy built around a market where products must be sold.
He also points to working hours. As noted in the DR interview, Danes work only slightly less than in 1990, when the 37-hour working week was introduced, with a sixth week of vacation added for some in the late 1990s. Much of what could have become shorter working time was converted into higher income and greater material wealth, he says.
Less time with friends and neighbors
Haunstrup tells DR that time spent with family has increased considerably since the 1980s. Time spent with friends, more distant relatives and the local community has almost halved over the same period. He counts everyone outside colleagues and close family in that figure.
Society could have taken another route, he says. Instead of raising consumption, working hours could have been cut to free time for local communities. He refers to studies showing that social relations and interaction with others support wellbeing.
The idea that the good life is realized through consumption, travel and new things is a story people have been given, according to Haunstrup. He notes that before the 1929 Great Depression in the United States, industry’s main problem was selling enough, not producing enough. That was the period when the advertising industry grew, with large campaigns pushing people to buy more.
Changing that view takes more than individual choices, he says. He calls for a shared conversation about what would be needed to do things differently.
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In his research, Haunstrup met a couple from Viborg while cycling around Denmark. The woman worked while the man stayed at home, and they adjusted their life to less money. He says the arrangement gave them a better everyday life, and that his book argues for shorter working hours rather than no work at all.
