Sometimes discussion in the comments section deserves to be brought up to the "front page."
tstreet asked,
As an aside, have you seen studies that show how Americans actually feel about their long hours and short vacation times? It seems like most Americans are perfectly happy to sacrifice their leisure, sanity, and health to stay on the consumption treadmill. Ever rising consumption and lower to negative savings rates rule.
Posted by tstreet at December 17, 2004 08:53 AM
My reply:
studies...
I'll let "my editor" Lonnie Golden answer that (2004):
"Estimates of the aggregate level of overemployment vary by the type of sample and instrument, since these estimates are highly sensitive to survey question wording and the options that are presented. The preference for fewer hours depends on the implicit assumptions provoked about the foregone income, the dimensions of hours reduced, and the type of time-off gains realized. When questions include an option of obtaining higher income via more hours of work, such as in the May 1985 Current Population and General Social Survey, estimates of overemployment are as low as 6 to 10 percent (Lang and Kahn 2001; Reynolds 2003), but also up to 30 percent (Heldrich Center for Workforce Development 1999). If respondents are presented exclusively with options for reducing hours and pay, the proportion of workers that would give up at least one half day's pay for at least one half day of work less per week (or more free time or family time), ranges from 28 to over 50 percent (Jacobs and Gerson 2001; Feather and Shaw 2000; Schor 1995, 2001; Friedman and Casner-Lotto 2003)."
Golden, L., 2004, "Overemployed Workers in the U.S. Labor Market," The Industrial Relations Research Association, Proceedings 2004
Feather, Peter, and Douglass Shaw. 2000. "The Demand for Leisure Time in the Presence of Constrained Work Hours." Economic Inquiry, Vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 651-62.
Friedman, Will, and J. Casner-Lotto. 2003. Time is of the Essence: New Scheduling Options for Unionized Employees.(pdf file) Work in America Institute and Labor Project for Working Families.
Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. 1999. "Who Will Let the Good Times Roll?: A National Survey on Jobs, the Economy, and Race for President."(pdf file) Work Trends Survey, Vol. 1, p.16.
Jacobs, J., and K. Gerson. 2001. "Who Are the Overworked Americans?" In Working Time: International Trends, Theory, and Policy Perspectives, ed. Lonnie Golden and D. Figart. New York: Routledge, pp. 89-105.
Lang, Kevin, and Shulamit Kahn. 2001. "Hours Constraints: Theory, Evidence and Policy Implications."(word doc) In Working Time in a Comparative Perspective, Volume 1, ed. G. Wong and G. Picot. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
Reynolds, Jeremy. 2003. "You Can't Always Get the Hours You Want: Mismatches between Actual and Preferred Work Hours in the United States." Social Forces, Vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 1171-99.
Schor, J. 1995. "Trading Income for Leisure Time, Is There Public Support for Escaping Work-and-Spend?" In The North the South and the Environment: Ecological Constraints and the Global Economy, ed. V. Bhaskar and Andrew Glyn. United Nations University Press.
------. 2001. "The Triple Imperative: Global Ecology, Poverty and Worktime Reduction." Berkeley Journal of Sociology, Vol. 45, pp. 2-17.
Shank, S. 1986. "Preferred Hours of Work and Corresponding Earnings." Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 109, pp. 40-44.
Posted by sandwichman at December 17, 2004 10:09 AM