Weekend Economists Go Out with a Boom August 24-26, 2012

[Demeter]

19. 5 Countries Where You Don't Have to Work Yourself to Death to Make Ends Meet

http://www.alternet.org/5-countries-where-you-dont-have-work-yourself-death-make-ends-meet?akid=9271.227380.LgAhPP&rd=1&src=newsletter698889&t=6&paging=off

Earlier this summer we explored some things we could do as a nation to improve work-life balance, from the basic (paid sick leave, anyone?) to the truly innovative. This time, we're looking around the world: which countries fare better than ours in helping citizens survive without working themselves to death? Of course, it’s hard not to respond to this question: “hmmm anywhere without child labor and a two-day weekend!” After all, not only do we rank among the worst in terms of paid leave for parents or family sickness and have zero mandatory vacation hours, Americans often don’t even take the vacation we’ve got! Still, not everyone is better than we are in every way. We have more women in the workforce than most, for instance. That’s why it’s instructive to compare ourselves to other countries and see who does what better, and what policies and attitudes we could emulate.

Tthe Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) makes a study of this sort of thing, ranking countries on quality of life -- the “Better Life Index” -- based on a number of factors, including work-life balance, safety, health, longevity, and more. Based on that series of data as well as other information, here are some countries that have better work-life balance--either overall, or in individual categories--than we do. And yes, though the Scandinavian countries basically kick everyone else’s ass in this category, we didn’t exclusively highlight them, since there are so many other countries that best us in this area we had the liberty to choose.

1. Canada: Not perfect, but better than the US...

2. Denmark: Overall champ...

3. Brazil: Vacation heaven...

4. Sweden: World leader in paternity leave...

5. France: Lavishing love on moms...

No other place is perfect, but as I learned through my research, each of these countries has something unique to offer its citizens. Here in America, this issue is on the radar in a way it hasn't been before, evidenced by the fact that companies continue to pioneer interesting vacation solutions to prevent burnout and their ideas are getting play in the national media...

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Sarah Seltzer is an associate editor at AlterNet and a freelance writer based in New York City. Her work has been published at the Nation, the Christian Science Monitor, Jezebel and the Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter at @sarahmseltzer and find her work at sarahmseltzer.com.