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Paperback
Publisher: Basic Books
Format: Bargain Price
This pathbreaking book explains why, contrary to all expectations, Americans are working harder than ever. Juliet Schor presents the astonishing news that over the past twenty years our working hours have increased by the equivalent of one month per year—a dramatic spurt that has hit everybody: men and women, professionals as well as low-paid workers. Why are we—unlike every other industrialized Western nation—repeatedly ”choosing” money over time? And what can we do to get off the treadmill?
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| The end justifies the means. |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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Juliet B. Schor, The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (Basic Books, 1992)
Fifteen years ago, when The Overworked American came out, I was, in fact, one of those overworked Americans: a retail manager, one of the demographics Schor singles out (for the outrageous practice of requiring fifty or more hours of work per week on a salary exempt from overtime). I soon came to realize that quality of life was more important than paycheck, and exited that position stage left, but didn't get around to reading the book that had so piqued my curiosity until this year. I have to say that while I wholeheartedly agree with most of Schor's conclusions here-- I would find it odd for anyone not to-- the ways she goes about reaching some of them leave a great deal to be desired.
Schor, as has been noted in a number of reviews, is (at least in these pages) an unapologetic socialist, and as the old saying goes, "when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." It doesn't occur to her that there might be other ways to practically apply her otherwise sound advice than aggressive unionization or other such measures (the dark sides of which, of course, are never mentioned even in passing), despite the fact that she notes a number of other countries where reforms such as those she advocates have taken root without such measures. The basic paradox inherent in that sentence pervades the book; it raises the rather odd idea that Schor started with her conclusions, then went back and filled in the blanks, never bothering to make sure that research A gelled with opinion B. It's no wonder, given this, that Library Journal said of this book that it has "an important message that will probably not be taken seriously."
In that light, I'd like to say that the importance of those conclusions cannot be overstated, and that a decade and a half later we're still wallowing in the same morass. Don't listen to those who say that instituting these reforms will cause an economic collapse; as Schor points out, American workers get less than half the paid holidays of the second-stingiest nation (and with the collapse of sick and vacation time into this loathsome "paid time off" category, which has allowed companies to shave weeks off the average employee's time off, it's just gotten worse in the past few years), but I haven't seen any other major Western democracies falling into economic chaos because their workers just aren't working enough. There is valuable stuff at the destination, however suspect the journey may be. ***
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| Stop reading and get back to work! |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Every now and again someone taps our collective shoulder and says "you're working too much." These infrequent reminders, often ensconced in scholarly works, tend not to resonate outside the literati's realm. Nonetheless, they send ripples through the grapevine, and for a moment the work hours debate seems resurrected from the sludge. But soon counter-arguments and brickbats fly, and the topic resubmerges to "unmentionable" status. In 1962 Sebastian De Grazia's "Of Time, Work and Leisure" exhumed leisure's hoary maw long enough to flicker a flame. This tome asked a simple question: "why did we choose work over leisure?" Then it fizzled. Thirty years later, the release of Juliet Schor's book, "The Overworked American," also followed this pattern. Though it shot up the best seller lists its influence seems to have now dissipated. These days, questions concerning working hours and leisure do not flood the mainstream nor do they seem at the forefront of consciousness. Regardless, people continue to ask themselves if they work too much. Many of them don't know where to go for answers.
Though "The Overworked American" may not solve everyone's work-life balance problems, it does provide much inspiration and fuel for thought. Schor reiterates de Grazia's question as to why America chose work over leisure. But she doesn't think we "chose" work like we "choose" cookies, she instead scrutinizes our culture and determines that it continues to demand more work. For many caught on the hamster wheel leisure remains a far off, almost nonexistant, possibility. Some wouldn't recognize leisure if they saw it. Some might not even know what to do with it if presented with some. Business, according to Schor, has many incentives to increase working hours and subsequently reduce leisure. For one, headcount overhead and benefits make employees expensive commodities. Looking through the greenbar, from a general ledger point of view, companies should derive as much benefit from each worker as possible. The more workers, the more expense. Longer hours for fewer employees can thus translate into savings by slashing the requisite number of in-house staff. Salaried employees, exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, make this possible. And many live this reality. Schor never accuses corporations of evil-doing, she just heavily suggests that they act in conformance to our bottom-line culture. And the bottom-line has no time for the absence of work.
Schor also admonishes our consumer culture rife with necessary luxuries. Today's fashion becomes tomorrow's garage sale fodder. A cycle begins. As people strain to keep up with this vortex they soon find themselves in a work-and-spend whirlwind. In the process they create discontent by emphasizing future gains over current well-being. Paradise always seems one step away. Just keep working. Schor dubs this modern phenomenon "The Squirrel Cage." Modern because historically, according to this book, people had more free time. Work didn't clog life's every nanosecond. Before industrialization mass consumption meant squat. Whatever pre-industrial people lacked in lifestyle amenities they gained in leisure. Then came the commodification of everything, including time. Technology, which could have saved time, instead spurred more production and accumulation. Time saving machines made us paradoxically busier. As such, the more our lifestyles improved the less time we had to enjoy them. And here we sit today.
Some scholars criticized Schor's data, saying that she had it backwards. They said reliable data showed work hours decreasing. Others called her suggestions, outlined in chapter six, idealistic or unrealistic. She foresaw all of this. In the book's original preface she stated her minimum expectations: "If nothing else I hope to help revive the public discussion on hours of work which died out fifty years ago." The book accomplished this without question. But only for a time. Business had little patience for the claims this book makes. They buried them like fish in the garden. Resistance to limiting work hours remains fervent. But many people still feel that they don't have enough time for work, family, and a meaningful life. The Economic Policy Institute reported as such in 2004, along with skyrocketing family work hours.
The main value of Schor's book, outside of squabbles concerning data and idealism, lies in her analysis of modern American work and consumer culture. Much of what she says will clank a bell for the average American. The book also points to solutions, though it never becomes prescriptive. And though it never clearly defines leisure, what it might mean to many Americans, nor how to reconcile leisure with consumer culture, it nonetheless provides ample information for those caught in work-and-spend to take control of their lives. Hopefully those who can benefit from "The Overworked American" can find leisure time to read it.
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| Overwork is Neither Inevitable nor Natural |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Aspects of this work are dated but Shor's book invigorates the term "wage slave" with new meaning. In this work you'll learn:
* USA citizens are the most overworked and among the least rewarded in real terms in the industrialized world.
* Most USA citizens would rather have more time off than higher pay.
* Overwork brings stresses to families and individuals that have huge costs which are largely unknown.
* The assault on the 40 hour work week, which itself is onerous and unnecessary.
* The so-called golden age in the 50's and 60's of the stay-at-home mom is largely a myth.
* Had Social Security been allowed to thrive instead of tampered with by elected officials, a retirement age of 50 would have been possible in the 1990s.
* How a 4-day, 32-35 hour work week at full pay is not only possible but economically desirable as well.
We've been duped by the American (over)work ethic, which is little more than an ideology that has evolved to enrich others by making overwork seem both inevitable and natural. Shor shows us that overwork is neither.
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| Great research and argument |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Highly recommend this book. Though written in the 1990s arguments are still cogent today. Good articulation, research, and philosophy.
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| Confirms What You Suspected |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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When I read this book, everything fell into place. Companies need workers, and they need customers. They could pay their workers enough to buy their goods, but they came up with something better (for them): credit, or the commitment to labor in the future to pay off the debt. Now they have workers (and customers) who are so deep in debt (or so eager to buy all the goods continuously marketed to them) that they have to work longer and longer hours. The history of employment and comparisons with the work hours of other countries were enlightening. When I saw how we are used, it changed my whole outlook. I read the book not long after it was originally published, and it's still one of my favorites.
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