There's an interesting article here about the length of the work week and the amount of leisure time American workers have, as well as some comparisons with European (especially German) workers. One surprising finding by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is that, over the last 40 years, leisure time for American men has increased by 6-8 hours per week, and leisure time for American women has increased by 4-8 hours per week. In addition, the largest increases in leisure time were enjoyed by the less-educated portion of the workforce.

Another study, out of Utrecht University, found that American men and German men work about the same number of hours (paid and unpaid), while German women work about 1.5 hours more per week than American women.

In other words, American workers have higher incomes and as much leisure time, if not more, than German workers. Which goes against the convention wisdom.
As they say, read the whole thing!
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 2/07/2006 12:13:00 PM