American suffers from an overdose of work     1    who they are or what they do. They spend     2    time at work than at any time since World War Ⅱ. In 1950, the U. S. had fewer working hours than any other     3    country. Today, it     4    every country but Japan, where industrial employees log 2,155 hours a year compared     5    1,951 in the U.S. and 1,603     6    West employees. Between 1969 and 1989, employed American     7    an average of 138 hours to their yearly work schedules. The work-week     8    at about 40 hours, but people are working more weeks each year.     9    , paid time off-holidays, vacations, sick leave—    10    15 percent in the 1990s. As corporations have     11    stiffer competition and slower growth in productivity, they     12    employees to work longer. Cost-cutting layoffs in the 1980s     13    the professional and managerial ranks, leaving fewer people to get the job done. In lower-paid occupations.     14    wages have been reduced, workers have added hours     15    overtime or extra jobs to     16    their living standard. The Government estimates that more than seven million people hold a second job.
    For the first time, large     17    of people say they want to cut     18    on working hours, even if it means earning less money. But most employers are     19    to let them do so. The government, which has stepped back from its traditional     20    as a regulator of work time, should take steps to make shorter hours possible.