Give Us a Break

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In Japan, the typical image of a karoshi victim is a businessman who dies at his desk after too many 80-hour workweeks. But several studies have shown that while both sexes are at high risk for overwork consequences—heart disease, obesity, insomnia, and persistent fatigue—women are far more likely to suffer mental health consequences, especially when they do not take vacations.

Roughly one woman in five reports taking a vacation only once every six years, according to a 2005 study funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A recent Harris survey explains this, in part: Nearly four women in ten who earn less than $40,000 annually receive no paid vacation whatsoever.

Things haven’t always been this bad. Workers’ lives have gone from bad to better to bad all over again. The industrial revolution brought extreme working conditions. The late 1800s saw the beginning of an epic workers’ battle for the eight-hour day. The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established the 40-hour workweek and the minimum wage, but most Americans don’t know that lawmakers also considered guaranteeing vacation time.

It’s high time to enact a national policy to ensure that we don’t have to feel guilty—or fearful about losing our jobs—for taking time off, de Graaf says: “We need the right to have that time off. Otherwise, we won’t have the [energy to power the] imagination we need to better ourselves and our communities.”

Silja J.A. Talvi is a senior editor at In These Times, a progressive monthly committed to political and economic democracy. This article was excerpted from the November 2008 issue; www.inthesetimes.com.

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