Annual Hours of Work | The End of Traffic and the Future of Transport

Americans now work fewer hours over their career than their working grandparents, and probably their parents (for annual hours. There has been little change over the past 7 decades). They start their careers later, extending the pre-work period into their twenties, taking advantage of productivity gains of parents and ancestors, and borrowing against future productivity. They also retire earlier, post-work retirement starts into their fifties, reaping the rewards of our collective productivity. Vacation time has not changed much in recent decades.

From Levinson and Krizek (2015) The End of Traffic and the Future of Transport.

Figure 3.3 Source: Huberman & Minns (2007) – The times they are not changin': Days and hours of work in Old and New Worlds, 1870–2000. Explorations in Economic History, 44(4):538–567. via Max Roser Our World in Data http://ourworldindata.org/data/economic-development-work-standard-of-living/working-hours/.