Overworked American, The

Americans are working harder than ever before. Beginning late in the previous century, this phenomenon, typical of the United States, seems to be expanding today from America to the rest of the world. Juliet Schor’s seminal book The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (1992) argues that since the 1970s, working hours increased dramatically for men and women, including professionals and low-income workers. Not only have the work hours increased significantly but also the workloads. Different conditions still prevail in other advanced Western nations in Europe, in which individuals work fewer hours and enjoy longer vacations. Schor joins the cadres of scholars who argue that Americans today live and work in a society shaped by powerful corporations, an increasingly weak state, and government policies ...