Observations
Observations: Americans Work Harderm

A report, issued by the International Labor Organization, a UN agency, found that American worker put in far more hours each year than any other country's workers. Americans work 137 more hours a year, or about three and one-half weeks, than Japanese workers who are the second hardest workers. The Japanese had long been at the top for the number of hours worked, but in the mid-1990's the United States surpassed Japan.

Altogether the average American worker puts in 1,979 hours a year, up 36 hours from 1990. That means working Americans are putting in nearly 49 1/2 weeks a year on the job based on an assumed 40 hour work week. That allows only about 2 and a half weeks of vacation, including all holidays. Last year the average American worker put in almost a full week more than he or she did ten years ago.

The rest of the world works substantially less. British workers work only 1,719 hours a year, which is 260 hours less, amounting to about six and one-half weeks of work. The average German worker puts in only 1,480 hours a year, or 499 hours less than the average American worker. That means that the average German worker has about 15 weeks a year of vacation, or almost four months.

Among the reasons for the large differences between the United States and other countries are that in many other areas workers typically take four to six weeks of vacation each year while Americans take two to three weeks. While American employers kept adding overtime during the 1990's, in France the government reduced the official workweek to 35 hours.

Americans are unique in that they continue to increase their working hours, while hours are declining in other industrialized nations.

The report ranked the U.S. number 1 in the world in productivity per worker. It said that last year, productivity per American worker in constant 1990 dollars was $54,870, about $1,500 more than Belgium, the No. 2 nation. The report found that productivity per worker in the United States was $10,000 higher than in Canada last year, and $14,000 higher than in Japan. This does not correct for the fact that Americans work more.

Partly because of the comparatively high number of hours that Americans work, the report found that France and Belgium edged out the United States in productivity per hour. In France, which ranked first, workers produced $33.71 of value added per hour on average, compared with $32.98 in Belgium and $32.84 in the United States.

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