Whatever happened to the 40 hour workweek?
A Gallup survey finds the average workweek for Americans is 47 hours, almost a full workday more than the standard 40 hour week. In fact, half of Americans say they work more than 40 hours per week.
The percentage of full-time workers in the U.S. has dwindled since the recession began in 2007, but the number of hours they say they work each week has held steady, at about 47. While four in 10 workers put in a standard 40-hour workweek, many others toil longer than that, including nearly one in five (18%) who work a grueling 60 hours or more. That translates into 12-hour days from Monday to Friday — or into shorter weekdays with lots of time spent working on the weekends.
Salaried workers, on average, work even more, with a full 25% saying they put in at least 60 hours per week. Thus, while workers earning a salary may enjoy greater income than their counterparts who are paid hourly, they do pay a price in lost personal time.
