How Much Sleep Do Americans Trade for Work?

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http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/how-much-sleep-do-americans-trade-for-work/383773/

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Among my Type A, career-minded friends, I've heard two opposing types of personal mantras for the amount of sleep a person should get. The first: 8 hours of sleep will help you be more awake and aware, and then you can work harder. The second: Sleep is for losers.

The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) reports that employed Americans spend on average one more hour working than they do sleeping on workdays. Worldwide, America lags behind Europe in OECD's work-life balance index—not to mention Americans are more likely to work late at night and on weekends than Europeans. And although the recommended amount of sleep is seven to eight hours a night, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 30 percent of employed Americans—or roughly 40 million workers—sleeps six hours or fewer each night.

A new study in the journal Sleep looks at the activities that are most exchanged for slumber. Using data from the ATUS, researchers Mathias Basner, Andrea Spaeth, and David Dinges sorted sleepers into three groups and compared their waking habits: short sleepers (those who sleep fewer than six hours a night), normal sleepers (six to 11 hours), and long sleepers (more than 11 hours).

Number one on their list of sleep-reducing activities? Work.

“The evidence that time spent working was the most prominent sleep thief was overwhelming,” said lead author Mathias Basner, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, in a press release.

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1. I truly think this is becoming a public health crisis...

to say nothing of simple quality-of-life issues.