The Underworked American
The Underworked American: Children are exceptions to the country’s work ethic. Yeah, no kidding. There is so much I could say about this…
I’m not sure if the “American work ethic” is so much better than the European one, though. Or at it applies at all here. If this was a matter of work ethic, you’d think that Americans would instill these values into their children. On average, this just doesn’t happen. The general consensus seems to be that it’s OK for kids to be lazy (or to have other vices, for which plenty of excuses are conjured up… but I won’t go into that right now).
The fact that Americans have to work more than Europeans, probably has to do with the way worker movements evolved. In most European countries, these movements fought for better worker rights. In the US, such movements were much weaker or non-existent, so as a result, Europeans tend to have more paid holidays, better unemployment compensation, etc. I think the current situation has more to do with that, than that Americans *like* to work hard.
By contrast, in Asian countries like Japan and Korea, working hard is generally considered “good” and admirable. Over here in the US, the feelings seem to be more mixed. Long work days are just something you have to put up with (mostly because you have no other choice). You can brag about it, but who really is envious?
On a side note, the article claims that “the average American gets only four weeks of paid leave a year”. Who actually gets that? I don’t think I know of a single person here who does. From what I have seen, you should be glad to get any paid vacation at all. But then again I’m in Florida; maybe the situation is better up north or in California.
(Also, I’m not sure about the lengths of the school weeks described here… 60 hours in Sweden? I’ll have to ask around to check if that is true…)
[Disclaimer: The above is simply based on what I've seen and experienced here in the US. And, I'm sure you like to work hard and your kid does too. Great! But I'm talking about the average American here. :-)]
Carl T. said,
June 14, 2009 @ 9:51 am
Disclaimer: I didn’t read the original article.
I’ve seen small family businesses have their kids involved from the time they were old enough to talk, and they work their little butts off. It depends on the environment. On the whole, your observation about our kids is probably not too far off.
Paid leave nowadays means paid leave for whatever you need it for – doctor appts., sick days, family emergencies. So if you have a couple emergencies or inconveniences a year, that pretty much wipes out a good chunk of your four weeks of vacation.
Where I work I accumulate paid leave at a rate of roughly 4.5 hours per 2 weeks worked – you can see that it takes a bit of time before you actually have a month of time accumulated.
The American Dream/American Work Ethic, I think, is more of a cultural thing. We don’t like to work and punish ourselves, but it’s been part of our culture and success for so long, I don’t see it changing. If anything, we’re going in the opposite direction – less benefits, more work.
The flip side is that a lot of folks form elsewhere would like to live here because we’re lighter on taxes than countries are in Europe. Not sure if that is related to the way our work laws are written, but culturally, I believe there is a connection (which, unfortunately, I am not awake or articulate enough to specify).
My 2 cents.
Carl T.
Ids said,
June 15, 2009 @ 3:28 am
It is a cultural thing. In Europe we like to have some free time to be able to spent our earned money. And of course our taxes are higher because we have to fund our affordable health-care and social security somehow (which is available for everyone, not just the rich). And, as research shows, you do not become more productive working more than about 40 hours a week.
el hackin said,
June 15, 2009 @ 3:48 am
Some “Facts” from Germany (Europe)
35h – 40h work a week normal (In IT 40h)
25 – 30 Days paid leave
If you get unemployed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartz_concept
Taxes: ~45%
Germanys GNI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GNI_(nominal)_per_capita
Calvin Spealman said,
June 17, 2009 @ 10:11 pm
I was talking about this just earlier today. I think it comes down to Americans not having a better attitude about working more, but having a worse attitude about working less.
We have been cultivated to distrust and dislike unions and social programs. We’ll complain about long hours and low pay, but get disgruntled if someone asks us to sign a petition for a union, because unions just try to get more than they deserve. Obviously, this is an oxy-moron.
Is this some big conspiracy to shape the American people into sheeple? More likely, it just worked out that if we got so complacent, we’d encourage the very forces that keep us working so hard. We are our own undoing.