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It's the also the culture. Americans are work obsessed and get status and fulfillment from their jobs, especially the higher you go. Many people are forced to take their paid vacation days (or lose them). Corporate types like to feel indispensable, like the would stop without them.
That might happen a little bit in Britain, but certainly not the rest of Europe.
This country worships strong work ethics, that's part of the problem. If you're a workaholic (workaholics/alcoholics wear the exact same clothes)
where do you turn to, unlike the alcoholic, for help? And so many don't even realize they need help until it's too late.
You hear people saying: Better working, than drinking or doing drugs. But the workaholic self-destructs from too much work, just like their twins who die from overdoses of drugs and alcohol.
They'll all say: there's nothing else to do. So I'll just keep working, keep drinking, keep taking drugs.
I am losing an old ex co-worker to workaholism. She had no reason whatsoever to be working past 55 given her income level and assets. At 67 she was still dragging herself to work at 5AM, leaving at 6pm, day after day.
Well, now she's got cancer, and is not even responding to chemo. If she had been an alcoholic, the family might have intervened and got this woman into a rehab clinic. But too many don't even recognize workaholism as a disease in this country.
Why do Americans work so much? Compared to Europe, Americans work much much more and take off from work/vacation much less than they do in most of Europe. I also noticed that many old people (over 65 years old !) are still working in the U.S., I even saw people that are 80 working as h*ll. In Europe, and probably most other countries, very few people work after 65. Why is it like this in the U.S., that people work a lot, goes on vacation less - some even don't, ( don't enjoy their lives outside work)?
1. Mandatory retirement ages. Around 60 give or take depending on profession. It's a win or lose, if you have good retirement benefits, good for you. If you don't, well too bad.. most places don't hire anyone over 45. So, most are retire by 65. Regardell if they like it or not, they'll be retired because the government says so.
2. Mandatory vacation laws. You can't "sell your vacation". So if you are broke, too bad, try getting another job for the 3-5 weeks that you have to be off from work. So many are off so and so many weeks per year. Regardess if they can afford it or not, they'll be on vacation because the government says so.
3. Overtime cap laws. On just about any line of work it's IIRC 276 hours per year, give or take depending on the profession and their standard work week (37.5 or 40 hours). So most work a maximum of 40-45 hours per week. Regardless if they like it and can afford it, or not, that's what they'll do because the government says so.
good for you, I'm happy for you. But all things considered you should really stop complaining IMO.
It's not so simple though. Many teachers love their jobs. Both my parents were educators and love to teach. Being a teacher, though, is something different.
In this new age of testing, teachers have to produce more with fewer resources. Instead of focusing on just doing what they love, they spend just as much time doing crappy administrative tasks and dealing with stringent measuring tools that inhibit them from just doing their job. They spend mornings reviewing what's going to be on some one-shot test instead of doing fun and creative Spanish or English or geography lessons, weekends taking home homework that they didn't have time to grade during the day because someone instituted some random measure yet again that takes them from teaching time, and evenings calling up parents because a student wasn't on track.
On a larger societal level, if you're teaching in a low-income, predominately black school for instance, 90% of the time is on giving kids life lessons because their parents are either working and don't have time to teach them these things or undereducated and don't really have proper parenting skills, counseling because they're overwhelmed with what's going on at home because those parents are not there due to being overworked (black parents, btw, are more likely to be working off-hour, late-night, and grave yard shifts than any other race), or disciplining them because kids are angry and resentful, often because they don't get attention at home.
Compound all of this with the fact that teachers don't get paid for all these hats and are often underpaid for the amount of hours they work (think if you'd have to take your work home and work in evening and weekends and see how you'd feel) and then have their own responsibilities to take care of. It can be overwhelming. Again, many love the essence of their jobs--relating to kids, showing them new things, seeing their eyes light up when they "get" something-- but are worn out by the non-teaching requirements that consume their work.
If we value education, we certainly should be pushing for beneficial initiatives for the educators who are spending more time with our children than we are.
Bizchick, it won't let me rep you again, but EXCELLENT post! Wish EVERYONE could be related to a GOOD teacher to see what they go thru. My wife loves her job. But I don't know HOW she puts up with the bovine excrement that goes with it...
When I was scouting around Latin America for a possible place to retire to, I met up with a retired ex-pat who was running a restaurant in Ecuador and she warned me before even contemplating moving down there and retiring:
Remember! You're a white man and the white man is never happy unless he's producing. In other words, working.
I really don't believe that's confined to just the white race, but it made me pause and reflect on her advice.
She warned me that so many ex-pats have moved down there and are "climbing the walls" within 6 months, with not enough to occupy their time.
She was telling me about some late 40's retired construction firm owner from Atlanta who moved down there. Was happy doing nothing for a few months, then he reconsidered, almost returned to the U.S., then decided to open up a construction firm down there, building condo buildings, houses, cabins.
Only difference now, he doesn't need the money and it's now labeled a hobby.
It remains to be seen just how I'd handle all that freedom down there with too much time on my hands. But it would be an interesting experiment, nontheless.
Re: Teachers. My friend teaches in the Cleveland, Ohio school system. One of the worst by many standards. He makes a decent living, not fantastic. He gets his summers off. He has job security for life, thank you union. The only way he can get fired is to come to work drunk. His top of the line heatlh insurance for a family of four is $30/month (not a typo). He'll have a sweet pension when he retires. If he gets his Masters it's an automatic $6,000 raise. On top of the time off he already gets, he is allotted sick days that accrue. I think he is up to 20 or 22 just 2 years in.
Y'know why teachers retire at 55? Because they have so much sick time built up, they can continue to draw a salary for YEARS.
Yea, he gets a little stressed with rowdy kids and awful parents.... but he's never been happier. I'm not saying teaching is easy... but the rewards really seem to be worth it to me. And I am only refering to the benefits, not the rewards of getting through to that one kid.... can't put a price on that.
Re: Vacation. What makes me ill is when a potential employer lays this on me in an interview "You get one week of vacation after your first year...". AFTER your first year?!? Yea, there are still companies out there using that caveat. I tell 'em right there: "This interview is over.....".
There is no denying Europeans have it far better then we do in terms of vacation.
Re: Teachers. My friend teaches in the Cleveland, Ohio school system. One of the worst by many standards. He makes a decent living, not fantastic. He gets his summers off. He has job security for life, thank you union. The only way he can get fired is to come to work drunk. His top of the line heatlh insurance for a family of four is $30/month (not a typo). He'll have a sweet pension when he retires. If he gets his Masters it's an automatic $6,000 raise. On top of the time off he already gets, he is allotted sick days that accrue. I think he is up to 20 or 22 just 2 years in.
Y'know why teachers retire at 55? Because they have so much sick time built up, they can continue to draw a salary for YEARS.
Yea, he gets a little stressed with rowdy kids and awful parents.... but he's never been happier. I'm not saying teaching is easy... but the rewards really seem to be worth it to me. And I am only refering to the benefits, not the rewards of getting through to that one kid.... can't put a price on that.
Re: Vacation. What makes me ill is when a potential employer lays this on me in an interview "You get one week of vacation after your first year...". AFTER your first year?!? Yea, there are still companies out there using that caveat. I tell 'em right there: "This interview is over.....".
There is no denying Europeans have it far better then we do in terms of vacation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rachael84
I never complained about my job...lol. I'm complaining about the people who think this job is easy.
teachers like you are always whining at how difficult life is and when pressed on the issue with facts you always back off because in reality the vast majority of teachers have it very good in this country. Most do retire earlier than the private sector with state pension and health insurance.
there is no ''teacher shortage'' in this country. if so, even outside of the recession, there wouldn't be 15, 50, 150 apps for every job.
there are many people with teaching degrees who haven't landed a job in 2 or 3 years. There's no shortage.
if teaching was so rough then why are so many people lined up for the jobs?
let's face it, there are 2 jobs whose employees are always whining how difficult life is, nursing and teaching, and it's not a coincidence that they're both historically woman dominated.
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White man needs to produce?
