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There are plenty of reasons to appreciate living in the United States — but if you’re looking at it from the perspective of achieving a healthy work-life balance, you’re sure to find a better alternative elsewhere. To be more specific, you should probably check out Europe’s Scandinavian region.
Study Reveals Top 20 Countries
Researchers from Compare the Market recently took a look at various factors that contribute to a positive balance between work and private life, coming up with a list of the 20 nations where striking such a happy compromise is easiest to do.
Among the top indicators that they considered in the study were how many hours people work on average, how much paid leave (including maternity and paternity) employees receive, and where each country ranks on the so-called happiness scale.
Although Finland has commanded the top spot on the World Happiness Report for the past five years, it only claimed the #2 spot on this list. It was beaten out by Luxembourg.
America’s conspicuous absence
When compared to the considerations that American citizens have (or don’t have), it’s not hard to see why it didn’t land on the list. Take Finland, for example, which offers new moms 161 weeks of maternity leave and provides each employee at least 30 days of paid leave annually. The U.S., on the other hand, guarantees precisely zero days in either category.
Many politicians here in the states have been pushing for new federal laws that would improve America’s standing on the world stage, but they’ve all encountered insurmountable roadblocks and gridlock on their way through Congress.
Another mark against the U.S. is the fact that an average American works more than 1,800 hours per year, which is roughly 450 hours more than the typical German citizen.
