Drew Wolf

Profesor Kretzer

ENG 1201

19 April 2020

Research Paper

Americans today work more hours on average than most other countries as our culture

has become obsessed with work. These long hours are affecting us physically and mentally and

not for the better.

Currently the standard working week is 40 hours, but this format is aged and needs to be

relooked at. The 40 hour work week became the standard in 1914 with Henry Ford and the Ford

Motor Company. Manufacturing workers were working 100 hour weeks working all day

everyday. Henry Ford put an end to this and instituted the eight hour per day, five day a week

work schedule. This would later prove to help change labor laws across the country as congress

later passed the “Fair Labor Standards Act”. This law provides us today with the laws necessary

to regulate working hours for full and part-time workers. This is largely still the standard for

most workplaces today as most office hours are nine to five. The 40 hour work week is outdated

and needs to be adjusted to modern standards as times have changed.

People today are living to work rather than working to live and it shows. In today’s

society your occupation not only defines your socioeconomic status but also who you are as a

person. Work has become such a part of our lives in ways we often don't realize. In this piece

written by Steve Taylor at Psychology Today he speaks to this, “We take it for granted that work

must be a major part of our lives. In fact, for many of us, it's the primary aspect of our lives. We

define ourselves and others by our job roles—‘So what do you do?’—and measure our happiness
in terms of how successful we are in these roles.” (Taylor). We often let our work define the role

we play in society. When we meet people the first topic of discussion is almost always work.

People are often judged entirely based on the work they do as this is what is attached to you as

your contribution to society as a whole. Work has become our base for how we live, the people

we surround ourselves with, and our place in the economy.

The rise in technology has made our obsession with work much worse as now we are

always connected and some people have trouble separating personal and business time. Now

with the internet, email, and phones we now have constant access to the office and our work. We

are now never away from communication with our coworkers and our customers. Many work

long hours just to come home and still deal with the stress of work as they can never truly escape

from the pressures of the office.

As work becomes so prevalent in our lives so does the culture surrounding work and how

we conduct it. The American work culture now more than ever encourages long working hours

and is against time off for vacation or even in some instances sick days. We have a live to work

mentality in the states and it shows in how much time we often spend at work. This quote from a

blog post written by a respected law firm Stump & Associates shows this, “Contributing to the

“live to work” mentality is the long work days in comparison to other countries. Reports estimate

that a full-time employee in the United States will work between 47 and 50 hours a week. When

it comes to vacation time, the average US employee only takes about 54% of their allotted

vacation time per year.” (Stump). Americans on average are working more and staying home

less. People are working longer days because of pressure to do so from colleagues and bosses.

There is a general negative stigma around taking time off. The average American work life

balance is off in terms of time away from work. The US also lacks regulation on parental leave,
this quote from “The U.S. is the Most Overworked Developed Nation in the World” by G.E.

Miller shows this “The U.S. is the ONLY country in the Americas without a national paid

parental leave benefit. The average is over 12 weeks of paid leave anywhere other than Europe

and over 20 weeks in Europe.” (Miller). America is an outlier amongst similar countries when it

comes to taking time off. The same goes for taking time off for vacation as workers in the US on

average do not use as many vacation days and are offered less to begin with. Since there are no

laws regarding vacation days some workers are left with no vacation days. This quote from a

piece in The Washington Post written by Hannah Sampson talks about this, “The United States,

on the other hand — on the very worst hand — mandates no paid vacation or paid holidays. Zero

days. It’s the only country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a

group of 36 of the world’s wealthiest nations, that doesn’t require employers to give workers

annual paid leave, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research. That leaves 23

percent of Americans with no paid vacation and 22 percent without paid holidays.” (Sampson).

Not only are Americans not taking as much vacation time and days off, most are working on

average more than a standard 40 hour work week. “In the U.S., 85.8 percent of males and 66.5

percent of females work more than 40 hours per week.” (Miller). The typical American is

working more than an average 40 hour work week.

There are many arguments against the idea that America as a nation is overworked. That

compared to other nations we are working less and people in general are happy to be working the

hours that they are working. This quote from a Forbes article written by Jeffrey Dorfman talks

about these ideas, “According to an OECD study of advanced economies, only 11.7 percent of

American workers work 50 hours per week or more, below the average of 13 percent for the 38

countries studied.” (Dorfman). This study would show that the typical American does not work
more than 50 hours per week. Another point brought up in defense of America's current work

rate is that the belief that our nation is overworked is all about perspective. Americans only

believe that we are overworked because of skewed numbers and self reporting. Most people only

think that they overworked while the data would actually show otherwise. The typical person

walks around talking about how much they are overworked or they believe they work a lot

because in reality they do not want to lose their job. In a ranking of OECD countries, done by

World Atlas, which includes 36 of the top economies in the world America ranked closer to the

bottom coming in at 24th. America's weaker job security would show that people are not going

to walk around and flaunt how little they work.

The traditional 40 hour work week is not a one size fits all schedule for conducting

business and should not be treated like one. In some instances workers were actually more

productive working less hours. This quote from “Enjoy The Extra Day Off! More Bosses Give 4-

Day Workweek A Try” written by Yuki Noguchi at npr expresses this. “Hundreds — if not

thousands — of other companies are also adopting or testing the four-day week. Last summer,

Microsoft's trial in Japan led to a 40% improvement in productivity, measured as sales per

employee.” (Noguchi). Microsoft's study of the 4-day work week is one of the more popular

studies as it showed that even a larger corporation can benefit from a shorter work week. As

there are benefits and people who are for a four day work week, there are also drawbacks and

people who would disagree that it is a solution. One of the main arguments is that it will not

work for every company as some companies do require a minimum of five day operation to

remain successful. Another area that would be affected negatively by a four day work week is

childcare. These businesses operate at the standard working hours and may find it difficult to

adjust to the longer hours and less days as they would have to be open longer. A 4-day work
week certainly isn't the best alternative for every business as they may need to be open five days

to be readily available for customers. But it is a viable option for businesses looking at

alternatives to the traditional five day work week.

Overworking can have various effects on a person's body but it can severely impact their

cognitive abilities and can increase stress levels. Working too much and not having enough time

to relax and collect your thoughts is a detriment to your mental health. Multiple studies have

shown a link between hours worked and a decline in mental health. This study posted to the

International Journal of Advanced Microbiology and Health Research comprising multiple

studies showed an inverse relationship between hours worked and levels of satisfaction. As hours

worked go up satisfaction levels go down. Another study done in July of 2016 found that of 2000

people in the study that 1200 did not have a proper work life balance and they did not have

enough time to relax. Another study posted in the journal noted a 48% increase in the probability

of mental health issues in those that work between 49 to 59 hours a week compared with those

working 40 hours a week. The risk for mental health problems raise by 53% for people that work

more than 60 hours a week. This overworking could lead to many mental illnesses including

depression, anxiety, and high irritability. A study done by The Hordaland Health Study posted to

the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine compared workers who were working

overtime and those who were not. They compared the workers anxiety and depression levels

using the hospital anxiety and depression scale. The results were as follows “Overtime workers

of both genders had significantly higher anxiety and depression levels and higher prevalence of

anxiety and depressive disorders compared with those working normal hours. Findings suggest a

dose-response relationship between work hours and anxiety or depression.” (Kleppa). In the

conclusion of the study they found that working overtime leaves people at an increased risk for
anxiety and depression. All of these studies show similar results in that quality of life is greatly

affected by work and more importantly how much we work. The more work a person takes on

the more stress they could accumulate leading to many more issues. The negative effects of

overworking are not limited to mental health. As overworking can impact us in ways physically

just as they affect us mentally.

Working too much overtime can lead to many physical ailments and injuries. Studies

have linked overworking oneself to many physical problems but also addictions. A study done

by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston found that those who worked

overtime were at an increased risk for heart disease. A similar study done by The Lancet

Diabetes and Endocrinology found that working too much can lead to individuals smoking,

drinking, and a higher BMI. The study actually found that extra hours at work was linked to less

physical activity which could lead to many health problems. Spending increased time at work

and not enough time to relax can lead to problems with addiction. People look to coping

mechanisms to deal with the added stress from work. All of these hours and no time to relax

leads people to turn to drugs and alcohol.

Through my research on the topic I have found that Americans are overworked and it is

having negative effects on our health. But there are solutions that we can put in place to remedy

the issue at the same time improving the efficiency of our workforce.
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