I was listening to NPR whilst driving about. The host had on two economists (one from Northwestern, the other from University of Michigan) who were discussing the economy and theory and whatnot. The one fella said something that struck me as sensible…but perhaps not true?
He said Americans are the most productive workers in the world. He further said that the general purpose of having a worker be more productive is that you can therefore afford to have less people work. He then said that less people work today than ever before, that free time, etc, is at an all time high.
The other stuff sounds sensible, but it is that last statement that I question. I mean, I assume there weren’t as many people who could retire, and that children…for the most part, aren’t working much anymore. But back in the day, none of the women were in the workforce, so that is half right there. Is it true? Do less people work now than every before?
Many thanks.
Absimia (who probably should be working)
It can’t be true that fewer Americans are working today than ever before, simply because there are more of us than ever before. There are certainly more people working today than the total population in 1800, for example. It might be that a smaller percentage of the population is employed now than at some time in the past, or something to that effect. But if the point he was trying to make is true, the statement as written above is incomplete and misleading in trying to convey it.
It is plausible that average leisure time is greater now than it has been previously, though I’d still like to know precisely how it is defined and measured.
I would respectfully submit that back when most women didn’t have formal occupations outside the home they most certainly WERE working by any sensible definition. They were contributing to the overall economy by raising kids, maintaining households, etc. They were performing labor that would otherwise be done by someone else, which is sometimes the case now: daycare providers, house cleaning services, etc.
I would guess that a lower percentage of people over the age of 65 work now than used to for several reasons: people live longer now so people over the age of 65 are more numerous, and Social Security and other types of retirement savings had made possible longer, relatively comfortable and non-working retirements.
I disagree that the purpose of having workers be more productive is so that fewer people need to work, although that is one possible outcome. I would say that increasing productivity allows you to grow your economy without adding more workers.