, Columnist
Why Aren’t Americans Working as Hard as They Used to?
Putting in the hours, California, 1950s.
Photographer: Kirn Vintage Stock/Archive PhotosI came across a statistic the other day that goes against the intuition of practically everyone in the US who has a job: Americans are working less than they did in the 1950s and ’60s. How is this possible, when we all feel chained to our desks or our phones?
Yes, we still work more than almost anyone else — especially the Europeans, with their long vacations and 35-hour work weeks — but the gap is closing. Not only are Americans working fewer hours per week, but people in other wealthy nations are working more. At this rate, we’ll soon be working as hard as the French.