The current issue of National Geographic Magazine features an interesting one-page piece entitled "A Work-Weary World." The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tracked the annual hours worked around the world in 2003 and came up with some interesting findings:
While the full data set doesn't appear to be easily available online, you can access a description of the study's sources and a report on year-to-year percentage changes. Michael Boyer's report on the study indicates that "once a nation cultivates wealth, work hours tend to drop."
Related Stories: | Topics:Work/Life, culture, South Korea, National Geographic Society, Czech Republic, Michael Boyer, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
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Recent Comments | 6 Total
December 7, 2004 at 3:55am by Tony
What about Hong Kong and Singapore?
December 7, 2004 at 8:03am by dave
This is a case where one number alone is meaningless.
Does South Korea have the same proportion of women in the workforce as the U.S.? As the proportion of women in the U.S. employment base has grown over the past several decades, I am sure the average hours worked per employee has declined as many work part-time.
I have not looked at the study, but it would have to be conducted on a common denominator basis...at the very least aggregated by type of worker (white collar, blue collar, service).
Juliet Schor (sp?) did a study some time ago that examined relative hours worked for several industrialized nations. In her book, "The Overworked American" she examines the alternative ways that gains in productivity were embraced. After WWII productivity gains in the U.S. and Europe ran parallel. European cultures tended to take these gains in the form of time (shorter work weeks); the U.S. took it in the form of increased income. At the time her book was published (10-15 years ago) U.S. workers in comparable jobs were working 320 hours more than their European counterpart while taking home wages that were considerably higher. She did a pretty thorough job of comparison.
I would be careful before quoting this National Geographic data as the cornerstone of any conclusion.
D
December 7, 2004 at 8:42am by Gordon Brooks
The Europeans in general are socialist which comes with reduced work hours,...more government handouts,...welfare,...etc. I see the Asian at least two or three steps ahead of them. If Canada wasn't so close to the US,...they couldn't exist either.
December 7, 2004 at 10:20am by Conrad Bakker
The list has Canada at 1,1718 annual hours, which I take to be either proof that Canada does work more than anyone else (but doesnt want anyone to know) or perhaps a minor error
December 8, 2004 at 10:04am by Heath Row
Just touched on what National Geographic reported on -- this isn't an exhaustive report.
February 22, 2005 at 11:54am by parvez
The real thing is we do a lot of work that is just wasting everybody's time.Are we even thinking of asking the really hard questions?
The questions about saving lives,ending war,pollution,global warming,selling of weapons by the developed countries,paying bribes,the richer getting still richer,denial of technology,denial of markets,non-tariff barriers to trade,farm subsidies by rich nations to farmers,reduction of poverty,education for all children,...
Think about the same!