Americans Spend 25% More Time at Work Than Europeans

Americans Spend 25% More Time at Work Than Europeans Europe’s shorter workweeks and generous vacation time are the stuff of legend (and envy) among overwhelmed American workers, but even they might be surprised to find out just how much more Americans work: Recent research finds that Americans log nearly 25% more hours than their European counterparts. Europeans work an average of 258 hours less on a yearly basis than Americans, according to a trio of economists from Arizona State University, McMaster University in Ontario and Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. Their methodology provides for a broader measurement of time spent at work by including things like vacation time, retirement and unemployment, so the end result is a measure of work hours per person, not just per worker. Video Player is loading.Play VideoPlayMuteCurrent Time  0:00/Duration  0:00Loaded: 0%Stream Type  LIVESeek to live, currently playing liveLIVERemaining Time  -0:00  SharePlayback Rate1xChaptersChaptersDescriptionsdescriptions off, selectedCaptionscaptions settings, opens captions settings dialogcaptions off, selectedAudio TrackFullscreenThis is a modal window. This video is either unavailable or not supported in this browser Error Code: MEDIA_ERR_SRC_NOT_SUPPORTED Technical details : No compatible source was found for this media. Session ID: 2019-12-31:2f6600ed9b42867ebfbdc8d4 Player Element ID: jumpstart_video_1 OK Close Modal DialogBeginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaqueFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsReset restore all settings to the default valuesDoneClose Modal DialogEnd of dialog window.PlayMuteCurrent Time  0:00/Duration  0:00Loaded: 0%Stream Type  LIVESeek to live, currently playing liveLIVERemaining Time  -0:00  Playback Rate1xFullscreenClose Modal DialogThis is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.Close Modal DialogThis is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. By this metric, the average American has a workweek of just over 26 hours. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but compare it to our peers across the pond: In Switzerland, which is the European country with work habits most like ours, the average is around 25 hours. In the U.K., it’s 22 hours. Germany clocks in at just over 20 hours, and the Italians have the shortest average workweek of all, at 18.4 hours. Economists say there are multiple reasons for the discrepancy. Lower taxes in the U.S. increase the incentive for Americans to work longer hours in pursuit of more money, one economist told Bloomberg. Other likely factors include strong unions that protect worker time off and more generous retirement benefits, so Europeans don’t have to keep working well into their senior years.