April 13, 2003
NORWAY--WE'RE 84% OF AMERICA:
Workweek Woes: Americans now work 1,978 hours annually, a full 350 hours--nine weeks--more than Western Europeans. (JOHN DE GRAAF, 4/12/03, NY Times)The harmful effects of working more hours are being felt in many areas of society. Stress is a leading cause of heart disease and weakened immune systems. Consumption of fast foods and lack of time for exercise has led to an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Many parents complain that they do not have enough time to spend with their children, much less become involved in their community. Worker productivity declines during the latter part of long work shifts.By contrast, over the past 30 years, Europeans have made a different choice--to live simpler, more balanced lives and work fewer hours. The average Norwegian, for instance, works 29 percent less than the average American--14 weeks per year--yet his average income is only 16 percent less. Western Europeans average five to six weeks of paid vacation a year; we average two.
Work and consumption are not necessarily bad. But producing and consuming can become the focus of a person's life--at the expense of other values.
Americans should reflect on those values. Later this year, on Oct. 24, will be the first Take Back Your Time Day, the goal of which is to encourage Americans to lead more balanced lives. The date falls nine weeks before the end of the year, nine weeks being how much more, on average, Americans work each year than Western Europeans. Perhaps this day will help American workers realize that, in the end, there's no present like the time.
Here are some of the values we might reflect on: because we work harder than Europeans we are able to afford both a welfare state and a serious military, the only great military remaining anywhere; because we work harder than the Europeans and reproduce at replacement rate we are not completely dependent on immigration in order to prop up our welfare system; because we work harder than Europeans we can easily afford the children that keep us at replacement rate, could in fact afford and must have more; because we work harder than Europeans we have just about the only healthy economy in the West, one which has been growing for roughly twenty years now; because we work harder than Europeans we feel comfortable telling our poor to go get jobs themselves, rather than just putting them on the dole; because we work harder than Europeans (along with many other reasons) we have a more creative and productive economy than they, inventing most of the world's new intellectual property; etc., etc., etc....
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 13, 2003 9:12 PM
A great many Europeans have 52 weeks off
a year.
Is that 16% less income before, or after, taxes?
Posted by: Regards, Jeff Guinn at April 14, 2003 7:57 AMAmericans average 2 weeks paid vacation a year? I'd like to see the basis of that statistic; it seems a bit hard to believe.
Posted by: mike earl at April 14, 2003 10:56 AMThe Norwegiens are a wonderful, beautiful people living in a gorgeous
country, all 4.4 million of them. They are blessed with oil and gas and so much hydropower they heat their homes with electricity in a largely cold climate. They do not manufacture much of significance beyond shipbuilding and their liesure is, often indulged in escapism; alcohol being a major problem.
In my experience in a large American Corp. that granted six weeks vacation after a certain number of years service, the company had to develop incentives for employees to take all the time they had earned. It seems Americans don't mind working. Is this a great country or what?
Posted by: Genecis at April 14, 2003 11:07 AMThe problem with articles like these is they do not recognize that Americans choose these life styles. If you want a simpler life, a lot of people are free to choose it. You may have to accept less pay or not working in the field or region of your choice, but most Americans have the ability to make these choices. In Europe, if you choose to work more to earn more, or whatever your goal may be, can you? Or does the government tell you how much you may or may not work?
Posted by: Buttercup at April 14, 2003 11:20 AMIn many parts of European economies,
unions or other less formal mechanisms
prevent people from working more.
It is certainly true that my boss has to send
memos several times a year asking people
to use of their vacations. In fact, we now
have a policy (I believe dictated by IRS
rules) that you cannot carry over more than
2 weeks a year.
Personally, I hate vacations. If I worked
in a car wash, when I got back from
vacation, I would not have to wash all
the cars that came through while I was
gone. In my business, when I come back,
I have to do what I would have done
if I had just come to work.
Every three years, when my union asks what
benefit changes we want, I ask for less
vacation, but I never get anywhere.