Overworked American The Unexpected Decline of Leisure

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?

This pathbreaking book documents for the first time the unanticipated decline in leisure both at work and in the home over the last twenty years and explains why Americans enjoy less leisure today than at any other time since the end of World War II.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-234) and index.

Juliet Schor is associate professor of economics at Harvard University