the authors ignore the fact that most americans (at least those who still have jobs) find their friends largely from work situations, rather than their local bird watching club. this has been going on for decades, and gives work a dangerous hold on people. TV shows, like the drew carey show and several others, are perfect examples of the work/friends relationship theme.
R
----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Murray
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2003 7:10 PM
Subject: [lbo-talk] friendless Americans
Why Americans have no pals
Stephen Jenkins and Lars Osberg
Monday June 30, 2003
The Guardian
American workers spend an average of almost 10 hours longer in the office
each week than their French or German counterparts. Our research suggests
that one reason for this may be that they are more likely to have "nobody
to play with" - because other Americans are also working more hours. As a
result, everyone may be worse off.
Many of the things that people want to do outside work involve other
people and are distinctly more enjoyable if done with others. Even growing
roses or watching television is usually more pleasurable if done with a
companion.
But the problem in wanting to have a social life is that one cannot decide
on it unilaterally. Simply to list these activities is to underscore the
variety of people's leisure tastes. To have a satisfying social life one
has both to locate somebody with compatible tastes and to schedule
simultaneous free time.
The implication is that, the more that other people work, the harder it is
for each individual to schedule and match their own leisure time.
If bird-watching clubs close because everybody is too busy to organise
outings and chess clubs fold because people don't go anymore, then the
satisfaction that bird watchers and chess players get from their leisure
time will decline.
When there is "nobody to play with" many people may then decide to work
even more hours. Since both formal organised activities (like darts
leagues) and informal matching (such as the chances of picking up a
singles game at the tennis club) depend on how many other like-minded
people have free time, at the same time, the value of each person's
leisure time depends on how many hours other people are working, and at
what times.
The British Household Panel Survey provides evidence that the likelihood
of engaging in "associational activity" for people in a given age group
depends on how many people in other age groups also engage in that
activity.
Our research reveals the extent to which an individual's engagement in
associational activity depends on the working time and leisure activity
decisions of others, inside and outside the household.
We find that when other people increase their hours of paid work, the
probability of a feasible and desirable leisure match also falls, which
decreases the personal value of non-work time. In addition, greater
mismatch between the timing of hours of work will reduce the probability
of a leisure time match being feasible - which also lowers the value of
non-work time.
Both effects imply an increase in desired hours of paid work, since
leisure has become less enjoyable. So, in general, the desired labour
supply of each person will depend on their expectations of the labour
supply decisions of others.
We suggest that societies that are better able to coordinate the level and
timing of paid working hours may be better off because they enable their
citizens to enjoy more satisfying social lives.
Our analysis also draws a link between decreasing social contacts and
rising hours of work. If authors such as Robert Putnam are correct in
stressing the dependence of social capital on associational life and the
importance of social capital for social and economic development, the
costs of a high-work/low-social life outcome may be substantial.
Paper available from http://www.iza.org (link to Events/IZA
Conferences/Past Conferences)
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