"We work nearly NINE WEEKS per year more than Europeans do"

[Mairead]

We're putting in longer hours on the job now than we did in the 1950s, despite promises of a coming age of leisure before the year 2000.

In fact, we're working more than medieval peasants did, and more than the citizens of any other industrial country.

Mandatory overtime is at near record levels, in spite of a recession.

On average, we work nearly nine full weeks (350 hours) LONGER per year than our peers in Western Europe do.

Working Americans average a little over two weeks of vacation per year, while Europeans average five to six weeks.

OVERWORK HURTS ALL OF US IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

Overwork threatens our health. It leads to fatigue, accidents and injuries. It reduces time for exercise and encourages consumption of calorie-laden fast foods. Job stress and burnout costs our economy more than $200 billion a year.

Overwork threatens our marriages, families and relationships as we find less time for each other, less time to care for our children and elders, less time to just hang out.

It weakens our communities. We have less time to know our neighbors, supervise our young people, and volunteer.

It reduces employment as fewer people are hired and then required to work longer hours, or are hired for poor part-time jobs without benefits.

It leaves many of us with little time to vote, much less be informed, active citizens.

It leaves us little time for ourselves, for self-development, or for spiritual growth.

It leads to growing neglect and abuse of pets.

It even contributes to the destruction of our environment. Studies show that lack of time encourages use of convenience and throwaway items and reduces recycling.

http://www.simpleliving.net/timeday/

Who benefits from this?

[redeye]

1. How long did medieval peasants work?

I was under the impression that they worked 80+ hour weeks, no vacation...

[Mairead]

4. Only at harvest time

"Peasants doing agricultural work in medieval times, worked according to growth cycles and seasons and were thought to have worked perhaps 120-150 days in a year, although some of these days would have been long."

[Yupster]

12. I bet a Medieval peasants' shop steward

would disagree with these numbers.

He would probably point out that off-season was no thrill either as animals needed tending, castles needed fixing, wood needed to be gathered, fences needed to be built and repaired, clothes needed to be made, goods transported, armies levied etc. I just have a hard time envisioning peasants in 1200 sitting around wondering what they could do, and feeling sorry for the poor slobs that would live someday in 2003 without a month's vacation time.

[amazona]

16. well, approximately every 3rd day was a religious holiday

In most of Europe, no work could be done at all on Sunday. It is after all one of the ten commandments. No work. None. Not even cooking.

There were also many holidays and saint's days -- over 100 of them, supposedly, at least in Britain.

[amazona]

15. yes, in august, they did, in winter they didn't work

In medieval and early modern times, you could not grow crops in winter. Used to be this thing called snow. And it stayed on the ground for months at a time, making it impossible to grow or harvest crops.

Medieval peasants got off all winter, and they also got off on Sundays, and on saint's days -- and there were many, many, many more saint's days and religious holidays than we recognize today.

You may be thinking of the early industrial revolution, when men, women, and children worked year-round in factories, sometimes for 16 hours a day, with no holidays, but this was obviously in the early modern period, not in medieval times.

Today, in the U.S. south and probably other places, farming is a year-round activity but this is a very modern innovation.

[stevedeshazer]

2. GASP!

But...that's...ulp...socialism!

[redeye]

3. No, it's not

It's called class diplomacy and is what happens when one class of people is being abused but tries to resolve the problem by legislation or negotiation rather than class warfare.

[chesley]

5. Damn

I knew I was tired!!!

[uptohere]

6. Europeans do this to make unemployment lower

otherwise the socialism model they use might look pretty bad. And thats from my dutch friend !

[aquart]

8. Works rather well, don't you think?

More rested healthy happy employees instead of a few harried overworked drones who might grab a gun and off the office any moment?

[uptohere]

13. well, not really seen unemployment figures for Europe lately ?

they're higher than here and thats with the excess jobs created by short hours and massive vacations.

[newyawker99]

9. Hi uptohere!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[amazona]

17. well, we certainly need to make unemployment lower

If we are going to have computers and other labor saving devices, there is no alternative to passing some legislation to reduce the number of hours of job/career that one person can take while others have none.

[aquart]

7. CEOs would have to take less than $20 million a year

if Americans had longer vacations. How can you even think of such a thing. NO ONE is as valuable as a CEO.

Right?

[stickdog]

10. Cheap labor raises all boats.

This is the Republican "trickle up" theory of shipwreckonomics.

[baldguy]

11. Have you seen this?

From George Will: Europeans take too much vacation

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/ThisWeek/Politics/george_will030824.html

snip

They constantly complain about American economic power, and the political influence and military supremacy that economic power makes possible.

But maybe Europeans would better off — richer, more powerful, more able to flex their geopolitical muscles — if they took less time off.

end snip

Also fatter, more heart attacks, more stress, more anger, JUST LIKE BUSH'S AMERICA!

[Rose Siding]

14. BUSH gets 35 days + and all his long wknds.

He must be one of those under achieving Europeans.

[baldguy]

18. Hmmmmm, could it be . . . ?

Of course! George W is really FRENCH!