A Portrait of America Part 2

In the last article we ended on a somewhat sour note. A majority of Americans don't consider themselves to be regular voters, and the most common reason is that they don't have enough time. Why are Americans so busy? Well, a quick look at the American lifestyle will show that we work very hard. On average we work 5 ½ hours per week longer than our European neighbors across the pond. 50% of us make less than 30k a year. Another 40% make between 30k and 100k per year. 9.5% percent of Americans make 100k to 500k. About 55,000 Americans are at least a million dollars and only 10,000 Americans make over make over 10 million dollars per year.

Education goes far when it comes to the amount of time spent working. While we all work about the same during the work week, the amount of time spent working on the weekends is highly indicative of an employee's educational background. According to the study, those without a high school diploma will work about 7hours on the weekend. High school graduates will work about 6 ½ hours. Those who have a bachelor's degree will work less than 4 hours during the weekend.

Outside of work, how else do Americans spend their time? Well about 9 ½ hours are spent on sleep and personal care. Men spend an average of 34 minutes per day grooming, with 15-24 year-olds spending the most time grooming (37 minutes). Women spend an average of 50 minutes a, with 15-19 year-olds spending the most time grooming (59 minutes). Single people, both make and female, spend more time grooming than their married counterparts. This data seems to indicate we spend less time worrying about how we look and/or smell as we get older. Most likely because we're not worried about attracting a mate and generally don't care anymore. When were not sleeping, working, or getting dressed for work, we spend most of our free time in front of the TV. On average we spend a little over 3 hours per day watching television on weekends and holidays, with men watching about 50 minutes more per day than women. Women prefer to spend their free time socializing and reading more so than men. When their not watching television, men prefer to spend their leisure time playing games, using the computer, relaxing, and playing sports or exercising.

I hope your time reading this article was well spent. Stay tuned for the final installment f A Portrait of America, where we'll discuss religion and spending habits.