THE AMERICAN WORKER

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THE AMERICAN WORKER

• How does the
• US stack up?

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Much of the benefit of US productivity growth has
gone into the pockets of the richest 1,
including CEOs, entertainers, professional
athletes, attorneys and doctors.Other countries
have seen benefits more widely sharedthus, in
the 1990s, Germans cut back on the numbers of
hours worked.
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Even for those Americans whose incomes rose, they
instead chose to buy more! Thus, while wages
began to grow in the 1990s, leisure time did
not.As a result, in contrast to other advanced
economies, average annual work hours in the US
increased, from 1,883 in 1980 to 1,966 in 1997.
We now work almost two hours a week more a year
than the Japanese, long derided as workaholics.
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VACATION DAYS BY LAW Spain 30
France 30 Ireland 28 Japan 25
Belgium 24 Norway 21 UK 20
Germany 24 Canada 10 US 0
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High productivity has bought little free time
in the US, where government does not require
business to offer it.
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We also have a greater share of our population in
the workforce. And we retire later 65.1
years on average than do workers in other most
industrialized nations 59.3 in France, for
example.
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THE CONSEQUENCES???

• About 1/3 of all US teens have contemplated
  suicide
• Half are at moderate to high risk for abusing
  drugs, failing in school, getting pregnant, or
  making otherwise seriously damaging choices
• Regardless of ethnicity or income, young
  adolescents lament their lack of parental
  attention and guidance

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OTHER CONSEQUENCES???

• Voter turn-out, knowledge of current affairs, and
  volunteerism with civic organizations have fallen
  sharply since the 1960s
• Each additional 10 minutes per day stuck in
  traffic reduces workers involvement in
  community affairs by 10

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SMALL SIGNS OF HOPE

• Ron Healy, CEO of 30/40, has convinced a growing
  list of skeptical CEOs to cut the workweek to
  six-hour shifts while still paying for eight. He
  says the added expense of hiring more workers
  pays off because they are more productive,
  happier and most importantly loyal to the
  company. Absenteeism is virtually eliminated.

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Taken verbatim fromBuilding a More Humane
Economy, The Futurist, May-June 2006