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American companies aren't competitive in the global market because U.S. workers have become lazy and don't care about doing their jobs right--at least that was what Japanese political and business leaders charged earlier this year. This inflammatory--and uncomfortable--accusation ignited a national debate over whether the country has, indeed, lost its traditional work ethic.
Statistics, however, show that Americans are working harder than ever. Some experts even contend that they're overworked. The average American puts in 140 more hours on the job annually than he or she did two decades ago, according to a study by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI). In fact, Americans typically work one month more each year than their European counterparts, who average six weeks' annual vacation and chalk up many more holidays.
Meanwhile, the number of two-career couples is on the rise, putting greater strains on family life. "Americans are starved for time," says Harvard University's Juliet Schor, coauthor of the EPI report. "Increasing numbers of people are finding themselves overworked, stressed out and heavily taxed by the joint demands of work and family," Schor points out.
PIETY AND LABOR
Of course, hours spent on the job do not necessarily correlate to time productively spent. Productivity is a measure of output that depends as much--maybe more--on how a company is organized and the quality of equipment used as on how individual workers apply themselves to their jobs.
When people talk about the work ethic, they're usually referring to what was originally called the "Protestant ethic," and which equated religious piety with labor. Under this view, working hard and accumulating wealth were seen as the outward signs of a person's morality--a ticket not only to the good life on earth but to the afterlife as well.
Today, rather than viewing work as a kind of moral benchmark, most Americans view it as just another part of their life. "A life made up of work alone isn't what our society is now about," says Princeton History Professor Daniel Rodgers. "Instead, more blue-and white-collar workers at all levels want extra time for their families and personal interests," along with a sense of purpose and satisfaction from their jobs.
While most Americans may not feel the societal pressure to work as hard as...