More workers putting in 40-plus-hour weeks
By Kimiko L. Martinez
Indianapolis Star
Whether your job calls for it or you just need to pay the bills, working endless hours is just a way of life, right? Doesn't everybody check their e-mail and voice mail on their days off? Or work two jobs to make ends meet?
If you find yourself answering yes to many of these questions, Workaholics Anonymous suggests you consider talking to a counselor. Do you take work with you to bed? On weekends? Is work the activity you like to do best and talk about the most? Do you work more than 40 hours per week? Do you turn your hobbies into moneymaking ventures? Have your family or friends given up expecting you on time? Do you take on extra work because you are concerned that it won’t get done otherwise? Do you underestimate how long a project will take and then rush to complete it? Do you believe it’s OK to work long hours if you love what you’re doing? Do you get impatient with people who have priorities besides work?
Unfortunately, for too many Americans, putting in more than 40 hours a week is commonplace.
Danger signs
On vacation?
According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, in 1999 about four in 10 male managers or professionals found themselves working at least 49 hours a week. That's up from about three in 10 in the early '80s. The rate is about half for women, but the slow increase in the past two decades has remained steady for both.
Benjamin Klage, 31, puts in more than 75 hours a week on two full-time jobs: 40 hours as a sales associate at Wal-Mart and 37 hours at Verizon's online DSL technical support call center.
"I have no social life," he says. "And the down time I do have is spent catching up on sleep or trying to get overtime at one job or the other."
Catherine Turissini was in a similar situation several years ago. One summer, Turissini, now 27, was juggling an unpaid summer internship, a part-time job at a bookstore and a third job waitressing. "It was 75 hours a week, and when I got back to school my senior year I was exhausted, but it was easy," she said. "It was a vacation to go back to school."
Now that bills are less of a worry, Turissini still puts in 40 to 60 hours a week as a special assistant for policy and planning for Indiana Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis. She spends several more hours each month volunteering for re-election campaigns.
Klage, on the other hand, still doesn't have much choice about his long hours. A divorce settlement, student loans, car payment and other living expenses dictate his grueling pace, and it could be more than a year before he sees any relief.
"I would like to have a dating life of some sort," he said. "I miss having a girlfriend or wife to come home to."
American society preaches that hard work will get you anywhere. It's all just part of achieving that American Dream.
"Steeped within the American tradition is productivity," said psychologist Paul Riley of the St. Vincent Stress Center in Indianapolis. "We learn that you can succeed anywhere."
The Japanese have a word for it: karoshi, working yourself to death. The topic received national attention during the 1980s economic boom. Since then, more than 30,000 Japanese have been diagnosed as victims, and a national pension system was set up for the victims' families.
