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High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

wsj.com

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Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#71

Post by pessimizer »

luckylion wrote: post #30
dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #17

> That translates to 1.5 hours less time on the job each workweek, or a 3% reduction in hours. A search for “statistically significant” yielded no results. So why am I not to assume, especially given the source, that this is more of that “Americans are lazier and less productive” thing that plays out daily in right-leaning media?

Yeah, those right-leaning media companies and their constant bashing of the checks notes top 10% earners.

There's nothing that the right likes more than bashing lazy elites.

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#72

Post by dqpb »

sandworm101 wrote: post #12

Key phrase: The top-earning 10% of men in the U.S. labor market. So nowhere near the top 10% of income earners. The real top earners don't do much traditional "work", instead earning money thorough investment and/or family income streams. I would also quibble with the definition of "work", as many activities of top earners would not be considered work by the majority of people. I've been to my fair share of "conferen…

> High-earning men in the 25-to-39 age range who could be described as “workaholics” were pulling back

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#73

Post by dmitryminkovsky »

lupire wrote: post #67
dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #17

> That translates to 1.5 hours less time on the job each workweek, or a 3% reduction in hours. A search for “statistically significant” yielded no results. So why am I not to assume, especially given the source, that this is more of that “Americans are lazier and less productive” thing that plays out daily in right-leaning media?

The source being WashU economists? Is that a right-wing think tank?

Well, do they say these numbers are statistically significant?

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#74

Post by VLM »

The linked article works hard to provide only meaningless personal anecdotes and promote speculation to avoid any actual answers while pushing pre-selected agendas. AKA, journalism in a nutshell. Sadly typical. Which is why almost no one reads that stuff anymore and no one takes it seriously anymore.

As a member of the group in question, I find the data easy to believe. Its less than two weeks work on average. If I get a new job its "normal" for me to take a week or three off, its all voluntary, I could see how in a court of law or as a weapon of propaganda my experience could get spun into being a part of the story.

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#75

Post by bradlys »

xyzelement wrote: post #53
greatpostman wrote: post #21

Controversial opinion: Men are concluding that women don’t care about money as much as they used to, and having an amazing career to snag a great woman is no longer the best (or even a good) strategy. In some ways, being a dedicated corporate employee makes you unattractive as a person. I know a lot of guys in their late 20s that think this. And I know a lot of broke bar tenders dating great women. Unless you are mak…

Nearsighted view that's probably not common among those raised with a long term values perspective. Being a broke bartender is maybe cute in your 20s and maybe they are enjoying the "great women" they are dating. The problem is - once you hit 30 and beyond, being a broke bartender ain't that cute, and the kind of women stuck dating them aren't that *great" either. And there's no easy leap from a broke bartender in yo…

I’d also argue that for young men - unless you’re an absolute unit and breathtakingly handsome… you’re always going to need to make more than your partner for a long term relationship. Being a bartender or taking a lower wage job is a surefire way to only being able to sleep around.

I’ve only met a few women who earn more than their spouse and can actually only think of one off the top of my head. Every other couple has the husband making significantly more even if their ages are exactly the same.

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#76

Post by starkd »

zdw wrote: post #6

A lot of people in the medical field (of both genders) I know cut back their hours once they can control their schedule in private practice - if you're still going to be making 3-5x of what would be considered a good salary working 50-75% of whatever is considered full time (usually in the 30-35 hours a week range), it just makes sense. Then again, this applies less to technology and other knowledge work where it's h…

Are there any doctors actually in private practice now? I've found most have already sold their practices to hospitals or some kind of provider network, and they are told the patient load they must provide. It's just not economical to stay independent and reduce your workload.

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#77

Post by maxerickson »

mrandish wrote: post #8

> "High-earning men in the 25-to-39 age range who could be described as “workaholics” were pulling back, often by choice" This seems like great news. I know several guys who've recently opted to earn less in exchange for more time off at home with their young kids. They are happier and the kids love it.

The decline, by my math, is from 55 hours to 50 hours a week.

edit: Oops, that 5 hour decline is for the highest 10% of workers, not the highest 10% of earners.

Given that they are discussing the hours worked by people making 90th percentile income, I wonder how much of the shift is due to changes in the population that ends up being in the top 10% (there's similar declines in the 80th and 70th deciles, which sort of points away from that concern).

The guy in the article cutting back to 60-70 was and still is an outlier (during short weeks, still a long workday a week more than the mean).

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#79

Post by lupire »

aqme28 wrote: post #65

The math makes sense for top earners. If I can get my salary for time off that's usually worth it. Example: If I can get paid 80% as much money for a 4-day workweek, then I will take home 20% less money but I get 50% more days off. It's a good deal.

That argument makes no sense. The units don't match. Why not get paid 40% less for +100% days off? 60% less for +150%? -100% for +250%?

Re: High-Earning Men Are Cutting Back on Their Working Hours

#80

Post by bradlys »

lupire wrote: post #64
sillysaurusx wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Height, intelligence, and a sense of humor. You can often get by with just two. Beyond a certain threshold, throwing money at women doesn't really yield more results. Or at least not the kind of results you'd want.

If you are tall, smart, and funny, but can't pull in good money, you probably aren't so smart. Unless maybe you are ugly? But then does tall still help?

Tall always helps. Imagine you were short and ugly - tall and ugly is a big improvement.

Cosmetic surgery can improve ugly a little bit too. If you have all that money then you’re able to afford it as well. Even with little money - you can fly to Turkey and get operations for significantly less.

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