Back to Basics?

Author, Robert Johnson, reminds us that the word “happiness” stems from the root infinitive “to happen.”  In other words, our “happiness” is “what happens.” Why do some third world countries seem so happy with so little?  Johnson says it’s because “They know that the art of happiness is contentment with what is.”

So what will it take for Americans to stop their frenzied chase of more of everything in their pursuit of happiness? Larger 401K matching? More vacation?  How about a thirty hour work week?

As beautiful as it sounds, it probably won't work. If employers offered employees a thirty hour work week in exchange for a five percent pay cut, it’s likely some would accept but then look for more side work to earn more money to buy more. We are so driven to acquire “stuff.”  We have a propensity for consumption, and to acquire more stuff, we work more.

In today's economy, working more is a given as employers search for any means possible to avoid paying extra dollars for vacation time and health insurance. Hiring people on a part time basis to avoid health benefits makes the most sense to the corporate office but a thoughtful analysis would demonstrate that it is not logical at all. Employees without health benefits tend to be sick more often (duh) and therefore, less productive on the job.Why can't they see that?

As much as we toil, we can't seem to save much, and what is the incentive anyway? Philosophically, the extremist view is that many of us fear that we don't have much more time on the planet anyway and almost all of us lost money in our retirement accounts. AND, ours is the only capitalist-based society that TAXES workers on savings. Absurd! The more you save, the more you pay on the interest earned. Who came up with that idea?   ANSWER: The very rich who can shelter their savings with loopholes tied to their investments and expenses.

The Japanese, for example, show a consistent growth in saving habits from 21.3% of disposable income in 1984 to 28.7% in 1998. During that same period, United States consumers, show a decrease in their savings from 10% in 1984 down to 2% in 2001. The most recent numbers show that most working stiffs, except the very wealthy, have less than one month’s salary in liquid assets. This scenario is becoming increasingly obvious as the nation's unemployment rate climbs to double digits. How can you save if you can't even earn?

We seem to be making progress in reduction of hours but the productivity factor appears to decline accordingly. For example, in 1830, most American blue collar workers put in a six day work week at 12 hours a day.  The downside is that they didn’t live very long.

In 1840, President Martin Van Buren cut the workday to ten hours a day for Federal employees. (His administration was crippled by depression and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. He had to do something.)

By 1900, most private employers had adopted the ten hours-per-day, six day work week as labor unions lobbied for an eight hour day , five days a week. In 1938, five years after the AFL (American Federation of Labor) asked for and almost got a 30-hour work week. But the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed with a compromise—a forty hour work week with provisions for minimal federal wages and definitions of overtime. With the exception of a few amendments to reflect equal pay and minimum wage rules, that hasn’t changed in 65 years.

The theory behind sustaining the 40-hour work week is that the health of the bottom line is ensured by using as few employees as possible to do the most work. But, while the bottom line improves, more workers become physically, mentally, even spiritually, ill, and eventually they move on. This practice, in turn, sends thousands of dollars in training down the toilet. The employer has to find a replacement and start all over again. Turnover is costly and time-consuming.

Today’s average American works eight weeks per year longer than the average Western European.  We have become the longest-working nation in the industrial world but not necessarily the hardest-working or most productive. Personal phone calls, small talk with colleagues and cigarette breaks eat up a good part of the “average” day.

The real bottom line? A shorter work week may result in more leisure time, less stress, and even increased productivity. However, it could also trigger higher labor, training and administrative costs. It may not be such a happy time at all. When workers decide more is not necessarily better and give their work, if they have any, 100%, the 30-hour work-week could be a productive reality. This, coupled with reasonable and affordable health insurance, could be a win-win.

Or would the best plan be to get back to basics and accept happiness as simply “what happens.”