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twentysomethings: Overtime demands jeopardize Americans' health

September 14, 2006

A new study regarding the health affects of overtime work has yielded disturbing results.

The University of California in Irvine's research showed that people who work between 41 and 50 hours a week have a 17 percent greater risk of suffering from hypertension than those who work 39 hours or less during the same period.

Although I've always admired the American work ethic, it's not shameful to balance labor with a healthy amount of leisure.

In France, the law requires that full-time workers receive at least five weeks of vacation a year; and full-time in France means 35 hours per week. Not that we should aspire to become France Jr., obviously theirs is a country renowned for decadence. But, I do believe their extreme is healthier than ours.

It may be a cliche, but it's important to set aside time to stop and smell the roses.

That is, if you can afford to.

Worker productivity has risen steadily of late, but wages have not. In fact, the median hourly wage for American workers is down 2 percent from the 2003 level, according to a recent report by the Boston Globe.

Slow wage growth has forced many workers to put in significant overtime. An article in Business Week magazine showed that the quota of U.S. workers putting in at least 49 hours per week rose to 18.3 percent at the end of last year. The figure stands at 31 percent for college-educated males.

This trend is likely to continue. According to a 2003 article in Money magazine, 57 percent of Americans said they would rather have more money than more time off. Remember, median hourly wages were higher at that time than they are now.

It's sad that the bourgeoisie in this country sees fit to exploit the nobility of the proletariat. The fat cats know that many employees are willing to sacrifice personal well-being to provide for their families.

And, with the costs of living on the rise, putting in overtime won't even be enough to compensate.

Our country has always been known as the land of opportunity, but does that still hold true? There was a time when college students didn't have to choose a major based on which jobs where at the top of the demand list to ensure a decent lifestyle for themselves and their families.

If economic conditions continue to deteriorate for the middle-class in America, Canada might become an attractive destination. There, at least, people can rest assured their basic needs will be taken care of. But for the U.S., a country in which fundamental quality of life depends so much on individual initiative, the global economy has become a stumbling block to financial peace of mind. The climate, for many, is such that no matter how hard they work, their efforts will not be good enough to attain the American dream, at least not while still saving for retirement and working reasonable hours.

The middle-class has always been the backbone of the U.S., but it will disappear soon if things continue to progress as they have been over the last eight years. I won't go as far as to advocate protectionism, but I find it amusing that the people who stigmatize protectionists are usually those who have the least amount of trouble putting food on the table and taking relaxing vacations.

Something has to be done to help the common man through this extraordinary transition that the world is undertaking. Whether it means nationalizing health care, higher education or both, it's going to take radical action to restore equilibrium to people's lives.

And, if we fail to confront this problem, there won't be much of a workforce left. They'll all have worked themselves to death.

Raymond Billy Jr. is opinion page editor of The Current Sauce, the student newspaper at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. Send comments to shreveportopinion@gannett.com.

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 12:13 PM