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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    America: the Nation of Workaholics

    More stores are requiring workers to show up on Thanksgiving Day, and Americans already work longer and harder than anyone else in the industrialized world. In the only advanced economy with no guaranteed paid vacations -- and when they are available, workers don't take all the days they're entitled to.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    More stores are requiring workers to show up on Thanksgiving Day, and Americans already work longer and harder than anyone else in the industrialized world. In the only advanced economy with no guaranteed paid vacations -- and when they are available, workers don't take all the days they're entitled to. The 40-hour week is a thing of the past, not only because of economic necessity. Even the rich are working harder than ever, despite evidence that overwork reduces productivity and makes for illness of both the mind and the body. Do we do it by choice, or is it part of the culture? Will technology make us free?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Working Too Much Isn't Good for Anyone
    1. 0:00American-US Air Cleared to Merge into World's Largest Airline
    2. 8:55America: the Nation of WorkaholicsYou’re reading this
    3. 44:44The Tradition behind the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Caitlin Shamberg

      KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Christian Bordal

      Managing Producer, Greater LA

    • KCRW placeholder

      Lata Pandya

      Assistant Producer, To the Point/Which Way, LA?

    • KCRW placeholder

      Ellen Galinsky

      Families and Work Institute

    • KCRW placeholder

      Peter Dreier

      Occidental College

    • KCRW placeholder

      Alexandra Michel

      University of Pennsylvania

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Working Too Much Isn't Good for Anyone
    1. 0:00American-US Air Cleared to Merge into World's Largest Airline
    2. 8:55America: the Nation of WorkaholicsYou’re reading this
    3. 44:44The Tradition behind the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons
    Back to To the Point