Read this. It's an examination of the differences in working hours between the U.S. and Germany. What it comes down to is that people in the U.S. have more paid working hours, but also have more leisure time. How is this possible? Mr. Smith works 50 hours a week at his job, and stops by the grocery store every Monday on his way home to buy food for the week. Mr. Dooshenboggen in Germany, however, only works 35 hours a week, and saves money by not going to the grocery store and instead spending 2-3 hours a day making sauerkraut when he gets home. When you add paid work to unpaid work, the American guy gets more slack-off time, and makes more money, and also helps other make more money by frequenting that grocery store.

One very interesting finding is that leisure time in the U.S. has gone up more for low-income households than for more educated households. That's the entitlement effect. Why work 60 hours a week to make ends meet when you can work 30 hours and apply for government assistance and spend that other 30 slacking off?