From: Curtis Price <cansv-AT-igc.apc.org>
Date:          Thu, 31 Jul 1997 10:01:48 +0000
Subject: AUT: (Fwd) Work & family: Do we work more or not? Either way, we fe


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Date:          Wed, 30 Jul 1997 09:19:49 -0700
From:          NewsHound <NewsHound-AT-hound.com>

Reply-to:      NewsHound-AT-hound.com
Subject:       Work & family: Do we work more or not? Either way, we feel frazzled



NewsHound article from "STRIKES" hound, score "71."



Work & family: Do we work more or not? Either way, we feel frazzledBY SUE
SHELLENBARGER
The Wall Street Journal


Harvard economist Juliet Schor declared in 1991 that Americans are working
an average 163 more hours a year than in the 1960s. Her book ``The
Overworked American'' was embraced by the media, >>striking<< a chord with
stressed-out >>workers<<.

In 1997, University of Maryland's John Robinson and Penn State's Geoffrey
Godbey declared Americans were working 2.8 hours LESS a week (or 140 hours
a year assuming 50 weeks of work) compared with the 1960s. Their book,
``Time for Life,'' was embraced by the media, with one newsmagazine
delivering stressed-out >>workers<< a verbal slap upside the head with a
headline, ``Get over it.''

What's going on? Are Americans working more or less?

The dispute has experts duking it out anew over an old issue, the best way
to measure Americans' work effort. It also sheds new light on our pursuit
of the Holy Grail of the '90s: more time.

First, a look at the conflicting studies. How can researchers reach such
different conclusions, studying roughly the same time period, about how
much Americans work?

Basically, they're measuring different things. Dr. Schor, contending
Americans are working more weeks each year, gauges annual rather than
weekly work hours. She corrects for growth in unemployed and under-employed
>>workers<<, pushing work hours higher. She relies mostly on a monthly
government survey of 50,000 households, the Current Population Survey, that
asks people to estimate time spent at work.

Dr. Robinson and Dr. Godbey measure weekly work hours, counting only time
actually spent working (not schmoozing or goofing off at work). They draw
on three smaller studies at 10-year intervals in which 1,200 to 5,400
people filled out detailed ``time diaries'' accounting for every minute of
the day. Each camp criticizes the other's yardsticks on points too complex
to analyze here.

Whom to believe? You should probably join the Robinson-Godbey camp if you
think only time spent actually working should be counted as ``work'' (the
more important measure to empiricists, including employers) and if you
favor precision over breadth (the small diary studies are unmatched in
accuracy).

The Schor camp is probably for you if you think all time spent at work
should be counted as ``work'' (the more important measure to those
concerned with work's effect on family and community life) and if you favor
breadth over precision (the Current Population Survey is unmatched in scope
and continuity).

Like Dr. Schor, other economists see a trend toward increased work time.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says employed women are working 233 more
hours a year than in 1976, men 100 more hours. That helps account for
Americans' feeling so pressed for time, says Dr. Schor, whose new book,
``The Overspent American,'' is to be published in January.

But even the 163 additional hours of annual work time she sees Americans
putting in isn't enough, in my opinion, to explain the profound sense of
time pressure Americans report in surveys. On that question, the
Robinson-Godbey team has come up with another, equally interesting
explanation. Like Dr. Schor, they say Americans' ``sense of the
necessary,'' their desire for goods, services and experiences, has expanded
too fast.

But by training a microscope on our workdays, Dr. Robinson and Dr. Godbey
also document a trend toward integrating work and personal life that is
changing the way people experience time. Where the two were separate
domains, we increasingly blend them into ``a seamless web,'' Dr. Godbey
says.

Vacations are shorter, and ``leisure'' has become part of the actual
workday, with 25 of Americans' 40 hours of weekly spare time (excluding all
personal and family chores) coming during the week in such short bursts we
can't immerse ourselves in calming, refreshing pursuits. Also, work spills
into personal life -- aided by technology and a sense of rising demands --
with >>workers<< ``at home working, in an office working, at the beach
working.''

The result: In our rush, we forget how to fully experience each moment.

As we become a nation of integrators of personal and work pursuits, it
would make sense for employers to let their staffers shape their own work
hours and workplaces. Then, employees could do their work when and where
they are most efficient.

There's a message for individuals, too: If we integrate too much, too fast,
we may blur boundaries so badly that the moment loses integrity. For many,
savoring the here and now means separating work and personal realms, with
no support from our fast-paced culture.

Marketing manager Brendan Carr is pulled many ways by his job and life with
his wife and three children. But he draws broad borders around his workday,
arriving at 7 a.m. to make the most of the quiet early hours, working
intensely for 10 hours, then leaving.

``I don't sneak out the door. I walk out saying, `Good night, good night,
good night.'''

Home time is similarly self-contained. ``Flying by the seat of your pants
doesn't work,'' he says. ``You've got to plan and manage your time.
Otherwise, it's just gone.''

Until more people draw better boundaries, ``just gone'' will continue to
describe our national perception of time.



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