Yeah, I went there.
Cheesiness aside, what IS the secret to happiness? To fulfillment?
A friend recently invited me to go to Egypt with her at the end of the summer. Of course, money is a concern, but my first thought was actually ‘I can’t take the time off work.’ And truth be told, neither could she, except that she is leaving her job in a month to head back to school and has the entire summer off. This is a much deserved summer off since she spent the previous three years working 80+ hours a week. Which brings up the question once again… what should our priorities be in life? What brings happiness?
I have to admit, while I am full of ambition, work is not the only priority on my list. (Yes, I did just come from a 100+ hr a week job for the past year and a half. But electing Barack belongs in its own special category.) I want to work hard, don’t get me wrong. I want to work hard and excel and accomplish goals. But I also want to live a life outside of work. I want to be able to take vacation, spend time with people I care about, and generally enjoy life. Because if we are not happy, what else really is there?
I have many friends across the country in many different industries. Some have more vacation and some have less. But the biggest variable is where their country is based. Those who work for American companies have far fewer vacation days than those who work for foreign companies, especially European ones. In fact, according to the wondrous source that is Wikipedia, the US ranks near the top of the list in hours worked per year:
Somewhat surprising, I know. The country so often characterized by the world as greedy, obnoxious, and lazy actually works quite hard. Or at least as hard as…. Greece? (Better to move on and not ask too many questions.)
While we are not quite up there with Japan, we are pretty close. We average 1,777 hours a year of working time compared to 1,346 hours for France or 1,362 hours for Germany.
And not only do we work hard, we don’t get very many vacation days:
Source
This site generously gave us 15 days on average, although many others ranked us with a measly 10. (Note: these are paid vacation days and do not include holidays.) 10 or 15 days a year. 2-3 weeks. If you want some time at Christmas, some time during a kid’s spring break, and a long weekend or two then you are out of time. I guess the ski vacation is waiting. Or that trip to Egypt at the end of the summer.
And yes, for all of you doing the math in your head, while we’re at the high end these are still not crazy hours being discussed. I do not want to go overboard and say that every American spends all of their time working. So let’s do that math. The average American takes 10 days off a year (even if we receive 15 for some odd reason we do not take our full vacation according to all of the above websites). So 1,777 hours spread out over 50 weeks is 35.54 hours a week. Doesn’t sound so bad after all, does it? So exactly how much does France work? 1,346 hours over 46 weeks is 29.26 hours per week. Interesting indeed.
I guess we can’t complain too much. But still, maybe there is a balance to be found. Industriousness is great, but by working long hours and taking little vacation are we being more successful? Are our kids smarter? No. Do we make more money? Better, but still no. Are we happier? Nope.
So who is?
Denmark.
Denmark, a country Americans probably don’t spend much time talking about (it’s not in the news – another indication its doing well) ranks near the top in pretty much everything. They are the happiest country on earth. They are near the top in wealth. They do quite well in education. They are one of the most peaceful countries on the planet. And what is their work/vacation balance? I think without looking above you can guess that they are near the bottom in hours worked and near the top in vacation days. (And yes, I realize these two charts might very well have an inverse relationship.)
So skipping all of the other variables, (because where is the fun if we cannot do that?) Denmark has a lot of vacation, does not spend all of its time working, and is the happiest place on Earth.
Once again, interesting. Americans might work more hours, but we’re not happier, or even richer, for it. And does working more always equal productivity? I think anyone could tell you that’s a no. Happier people work harder. People with a personal investment work harder. Workers who respect and care about their company work harder. And people who get along together as a team (and happiness helps in getting along) work harder.
So what is the right balance? Should Americans work less? Work more hours in fewer days to have more vacation? Or take more time to watch the sun set? It’s a decision everyone needs to make on their own about their priorities. And then we if we all agree we can ask the US to respect our mutual decision.
Or we can all move to Denmark. Happiest place on earth. Or maybe Disney World?
No comments:
Post a Comment