Young adults struggling to balance work and life once on their own
by: Brian Szczerbinski
Nathan Bowser, 22, of Pawtucket, R.I., has just gotten home at 6:30 p.m. from working a 10-hour day at Gem Plumbing and Heating in Lincoln R.I. He briefly talks with his wife of three years about their work days and then he takes care of their newborn baby, Ian, while his wife cooks dinner. After dinner, Bowser and his wife put their baby to sleep, watch a movie and then go to sleep themselves. But his cell phone is never far away as he occasionally has to troubleshoot phone and computer problems at work. Seven hours later, he will wake up and repeat the day.
“I feel overworked because there never seems to be enough time to do much of anything,” said Bowser, who is an information technology specialist. “I go into a day or weekend with certain expectations of myself and things I hope to accomplish. I don't feel that I accomplish as much as I should all the time.”
Bowser is one of many twentysomethings who feel pressure over a lengthening work day in the United States and the financial burdens of transitioning into adulthood. With new technology allowing people to easily work from home and companies increasingly downsizing to save money, young employees struggle to balance work and life and stress over their job security.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based economic-policy group, Americans work longer weeks while other industrialized countries are shortening their work weeks. Between 1970 and 2002, annual hours per capita rose 20 percent in the United States, the highest among the 19 countries surveyed by OECD. However, annual work weeks declined by 23.5 percent in France, 17.1 percent in Germany, and 16.6 percent in Japan.
“It’s hard enough to make the transition into the real world,” said Cathy Stocker, co-author of the “Quarterlifers Companion,” about the lengthening work week. “The biggest challenge is finding a balance when work takes up a majority of the day.”
Bowser is also one of numerous twentysomethings who face financial burdens even though they work more hours. Debt from school, increases in living expenses, and a newborn are just a few of the costs Bowser and other young people face for the first time as they leave the safety of their schools and their parents’ homes. These costs sometimes make it impossible for twentysomethings to escape from their stressful work weeks, said Penelope Trunk, a career advisor who writes for Yahoo Finance and the Boston Globe.
“It is causing serious issues,” said Trunk about young people overworking and not finding time for a social life. “There is more debt than ever and salaries have not increased proportionally. Young people should assess what their needs are and then look at what works financially.”
Additionally, the longer work week and financial problems has made it difficult for young people to escape from work. In 2004, OECD surveyed full-time employees and companies across the world on vacation time. United States employees, even though they are working more hours, received a mere 3.9 holiday and vacation weeks off a year. On the other hand, Italy’s full-time employees received more than double the time off compared to Americans, 7.9 weeks. United Kingdom employees received 6.6 weeks off a year while French workers got 7 weeks off of the job.
Adding to the stress, a survey in 2004 by the Families and Work Institute, a non-profit research center on the American work force, found 36 percent of Americans will not use their vacation time. The same survey found about one in five people do some amount of work during vacation.
One example is Becky Heon, 27, of Thompson, Conn., who is a purchaser for Gem Plumbing and Heating in Lincoln, R.I. Heon said she would never cut a vacation short or work on a holiday because she values family and friends over work. However, last year, she had scheduled a week off from work, but when Gem Plumbing and Heating fired another purchaser, she had to cancel her vacation. Since Gem fired the employee, she has not been able to take more than two days off in a row.