| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 14, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY
Commentary: It's 8 p.m., and Mom's Out Trading Maybe round-the-clock trading is inevitable. We have 24-hour groceries, pharmacies, diners, casinos, and bowling alleys. And the Internet's online bazaar is just a mouse click away, so we can shop for books, clothes, or antiques--at 4 a.m. But just because we can doesn't mean we should. With every step in this march toward a 24-hour economy, there is a cost: less time for things beyond the realm of getting and spending. Most important, a 24-7 economy squeezes the time a healthy society needs for its parents to spend with their families. In the aftermath of the shootings in Littleton, Colo., and Conyers, Ga., were there many parents who didn't wonder if a few more family meals together would have made a difference? And didn't pundits and pols of every stripe chide Americans for not talking to their kids enough? If the New York Stock Exchange expands its hours, every function connected with it will have to be staffed. That means more back-office workers, floor traders, messengers, car-service drivers, and bank employees. Even Wall Street delis will need more help. Some of these will be new jobs. But they won't be at family-friendly hours. And at many companies, workers simply will be asked to work a little longer each day to fill the gaps. Already, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, the average two-earner middle-income family has seen its annual workload grow from 3,206 hours in 1989 to 3,335 in 1997. That has left us with 14% less time to spend with our kids, says the Council of Economic Advisors. ''We need to have parents spending enough time with children so they can produce workers we'd like to hire eventually,'' says Lawrence Mishel, author of the EPI study. That means educated and well-socialized ones, who got more out of their parents than the latest haul from the mall. So what do we do? Reenact blue laws? Make businesses close their doors by 7 p.m.? Force everyone to enjoy a day of rest? That seems unlikely in a society as bent on creating wealth as this one. And without extended hours for, say, groceries, many of us would never be able to accomplish any family errands. Besides, if the U.S. doesn't push the envelope when it comes to fast-moving financial markets, others will. It's unrealistic to think we can go back to family dinners at 7 and quiet Sunday afternoons. But we should at least acknowledge the contradictions between our so-called family values and our economic ones. Perhaps we can limit our own office hours--assuming employers agree that workers should log quality time at home. On the other hand, if management is always looking for candidates for the next downsizing, who will refuse the added assignments or hours? How many blue-collar workers can afford to pass up the offer of lucrative overtime? Here, some help from policymakers might be needed to set reasonable limits that encourage employers to hire rather than overwork. But I don't hold out much hope: I ended up writing this piece during Memorial Day weekend. By Pat Wechsler _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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