🌅 Today’s stat: 75,900 hours

SOURCE

Fogel (2000)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Between 1880 and 1995, the number of hours of work per day for a typical U.S. male head of household fell by nearly half (45%), allowing daily leisure time to more than triple (from 1.8 to 5.8 hours). The shift occurred despite dramatic gains in life expectancy.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Taking into account the decline in the length of the U.S. workweek and the declining portion of one’s lifetime that’s spent doing paid work (largely due to longer periods of education and retirement), by 2040, American workers may spend less than a quarter of their discretionary time (time not needed for sleep, meals, or hygiene) working; three-quarters could be available for leisure.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Americans in the late 19th century commonly worked 60+ hour weeks, and it wasn’t until 1938 that the 40-hour workweek became law. As technology continues to boost productivity and calls for 4-day workweeks continue to grow, workers today may be on the cusp of an era of an abundance of leisure time, despite about one-third (32%) of workers saying they lack the flexibility to maintain work-life balance.