The typical American worker puts in nine weeks more on the job than his or her European counterpart. The costs of this overwork are enormous, both personally and societally. This bracing collection of essays is both a wide-ranging analysis of the phenomenon and a blueprint for change. With contributions by such notable names as Vicki Robin, author of Your Money or Your Life, and David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World, this book shows what ordinary citizens can do to restore balance to themselves and their communities. Take Back Your Time is the official handbook for Take Back Your Time Day, a national event rallying support for reclaiming a proper work-life balance.

John de Graaf is an independent producer of award-winning television documentaries, including Affluenza and Escape from Affluenza, and is the national coordinator of Take Back Your Time Day.

Preface,

viii

Introduction,

1

(4)

Part One: Overwork in America,

5

(32)

1 The (Even More) Overworked American,

6

(6)

Juliet Schor

2 An Issue for Everybody,

12

(8)

Barbara Brandt

3 The Incredible Shrinking Vacation,

20

(8)

Joe Robinson

4 Forced Overtime in the Land of the Free,

28

(9)

Lonnie Golden

Part Two: Time is a Family Value,

37

(20)

5 Overscheduled Kids, Underconnected Families,

38

(8)

William Doherty and Barbara Carlson

6 Recapturing Childhood,

46

(6)

Betsy Taylor

7 What about Fluffy and Fido?,

52

(5)

Camilla H. Fox

Part Three: The Cost to Civil Society,

57

(20)

8 Wasted Work, Wasted Time,

58

(8)

Jonathan Rowe

9 Time to be a Citizen,

66

(6)

Paul Loeb

10 Time and Crime,

72

(5)

Charles Reasons

Part Four: Health Hazards,

77

(14)

11 An Hour a Day (Could Keep the Doctor Away),

78

(6)

Suzanne Schweikert

12 The (Bigger) Picture of Health,

84

(7)

Stephen Bezruchka

Part Five: Environmental Consequences,

91

(22)

13 Haste Makes Waste,

92

(8)

David Wann

14 The Speed Trap,

100

(7)

Robert Bernstein

15 On Time, Happiness, and Ecological Footprints,

107

(6)

Tim Kasser and Kirk Warren Brown

Part Six: Historical and Cultural Perspectives,

113

(20)

16 When We Had the Time,

114

(9)

Benjamin Hunnicutt

17 Can America Learn from Shabbat?,

123

(10)

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Part Seven: Taking Back Your Time,

133

(12)

18 Enough-the Time Cost of Stuff,

134

(5)

Vicki Robin

19 The Simple Solution,

139

(6)

Cecile Andrews

Part Eight: Workplace Solutions,

145

(40)

20 Jobs to Share,

146

(8)

Carol Ostrom

21 A New Bottom Line,

154

(6)

Irene Myers, Larry Gaffin, and Barbara Schramm

22 Working Retired,

160

(7)

Beverly Goldberg

23 A Case for Sabbaticals,

167

(5)

Bob Sessions and Lori Erickson

24 America Needs a Break,

172

(6)

Karen Nussbaum, Christine Owens, and Carol Eicken

25 It Would be Good for Business Too,

178

(7)

Sharon Lobel

Part Nine: Rethinking Patterns of Culture,

185

(16)

26 Recipes for Relief,

186

(7)

Anna Lappé

27 Time by Design,

193

(8)

Linda Breen Pierce

Part Ten: Changing Public Policy,

201

(26)

28 Europe's Work-Time Alternatives,

202

(9)

Anders Hayden

29 A Policy Agenda for Taking Back Time,

211

(8)

Jerome Segal

30 What's an Economy For?,

219

(8)

David Korten

Appendices,

227

(22)

A. Organizing Take Back Your Time Day in Your Community,

228

(9)

Sean Sheehan

B. Teach-Ins and Study Circles,

237

(6)

Cecile Andrews

C. How to Pitch (not Place) a Story,

243

(6)

Eric Brown

References,

249

(6)

Index,

255

(10)

About the Authors,

265

(4)

Art Credits,

269

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