Americans are Workaholics because they have to be.
I'm a 9-5er. (Well, honestly, a 10-6er, but you know, it's a coined term) I work 40 hours a week or more every week on salary. Most people at my office work closer to 50 hours a week. We do not get overtime, yet are expected to stay as late as it takes to get projects in on time. To suggest otherwise would threaten our jobs. We have two weeks of paid vacation. This is normal. That is to say, this is normal in America. I am terrified every day at the prospect of working on and on without a break. The freelancers life seems so magical to me, taking months off at a time. Except I don't want to be a freelancer. I like my job. But how can I keep trucking on like this without a break? I'm not sure that I can.
I did a little research and discovered that Europeans don't. European companies are required to give employees a minimum of four weeks paid vacation time. And in many European countries, it is standard to receive more like 6 weeks. Paid. Vacation.
Not only do they get more vacation time, they work less hours. A 35-work week is standard there. On average, American employees work longer hours than any other industrialized country. Japan comes in second (but they also have a standard four week vacation time), and Europeans work the fewest hours of any industrialized nation. Americans wouldn't dream of asking for more time off or less hours in their work week. The job market here is too competitive. There's always going to be someone out there who is willing to work the long hours.
Including shorter work weeks and longer vacations, Europeans get nine weeks more freetime than Americans. Well, not all Americans. As of 2003, George Bush had taken <250 days off.At the time that was 27% of his presidency. I'm sure it's a bit more now.
The website Take Back Your Time is a major U.S./Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment." The site has a lot of information and statistics, and also Living 9 to 5, which appears to be sponsered by Beringer Wine (complete with a how-much-do-you-know-about-wine quiz and party tips) but it also asks employees all over the US to take off October 24, National Take Back Your Time day. By October 24, Americans have worked as much as Europeans will for the Entire Year. As of right now, 73,524 hrs 53 min have been pledged. From Take Back Your Time, "October 24th, 2003 marked the first Take Back Your Time Day. Events were held in as many as 200 communities in the U.S. and Canada, reaching several thousand people...The campaign won endorsements from labor unions, religious and family organizations and government. Several cities and the governor of Michigan officially proclaimed October 24th as Take Back Your Time Day." I was surprised to see people actually organized this. As if it's going to make a difference, of course.
I don't really have a point except that Americans are worked too hard and 2 weeks of vacation time is unhealthy. No wonder everyone's on pills for anxiety and depression. We never get time away from work! Even though I generally have enough money to go to a lot of the places I've been wanting to see, and to do the things I want to do, I feel like I will never have enough fucking time. Sinply yet another reason to start working on the old European citizenship.
I don't ever have enough money to take time off. I freelance, and my problem is that my rates are just too goddamn low. Right now, on the job I'm working on, I'm making close to what a cashier makes at Whole Foods. Now, I can't complain because this is the rate I agreed to, but I'm still learning to stand up for myself to get what I'm worth and what I deserve.
Anyway, I guess my point is that my working life kinda sucks right now too. But I'm finally at the point where I've got more work than I can accomplish and getting paid almost nothing to do it. Next year, I hope to have just the right amount of work and be making a decent wage.
That's progress.
I live at 30878 Commonwealth in Seattle. Been up here before?
A hard nut to crack... Osmund