Reasons why you may need to kick back
Published September 4, 2006 at midnight
Today is an apt occasion to reflect that Americans may be many things, but lazy isn't one of them.
More than 151 million of us 16 and older are in the work force, 112 million of us in occupations that provide a service, according to the Census Bureau.
Over a fourth of us work more than 40 hours a week, and 8 percent of us more than 60. There are 7.5 million moonlighters.
We are still a mobile work force, one of the strengths of the U.S. economy. The median length of time for a worker with a single employer is four years.
Americans work more hours per year than any other workers in the industrialized world, according to researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and they take off less time. The average American gets 23 days a year in vacation and holidays, half of what an Italian worker takes in time off. Even the legendarily hardworking Japanese get 31.
So take a break this Labor Day. You've earned it.
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
