"The Over Worked American"

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate October 2001

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As the hours, days, months, and years pass; the more and more the average American spends their time working. ?If present trends continue, by the end of the century Americans will be spending as much time at their jobs as they did back in the nineteen twenties? (Schor, 385). The more time the American works, the less time they have to spend with their families or even with themselves. Schor has done a wonderful job explaining in great detail, with much evidence, exactly how and why we are all being affected by this rise of work time in the short essay ?The Overworked American.? This essay takes a subject that every American is familiar with and gives evidence and major support, making it a clear and very meaningful essay. It would be a wonderful teaching tool for future students and even present ones; in order of it?s context and story line it is able to open the eyes and minds of not only it?s readers, but also it?s presenters.

Schor?s claim, ?key incentive structures of capitalist economies contain biases toward long working hours? is supported by numerous studies. In one such study, Americans were surveyed and found that the average American only has sixteen and a half hours of leisure a week, after the obligations of job and household are taken care of. There is no such thing as free time, and no way to make it so you do have free time. This rising workload suggests that is has contributed to a variety of social problems implicated in the high rise of ?stress?. Through research, they found that thirty percent of adults say that they experience high stress nearly every day. A third of the population says that they are rushed to do things they...