[big_chungus]

This is exactly right. The economy has grown to unsustainable levels based on the economic habits of the average American who can't be bothered to save, hence the crash we're seeing now. At sixty hours a week, that guy should be making six figures, pre-tax. There is zero excuse for not saving. Everyone should save at least six months of salary for emergencies; though a few people legitimately can't, most Americans simply don't bother because they'd rather spend that money on the new i phone.

Edit: Williamdclt, I'll answer your question here due to rate-limiting.

Yes, lots of us do; I've been working that way since internships in high school. Same with many others I know. Usually, though, it's close to 12 hours a day and none on Saturday, or maybe 11 a day and a little on the weekend. Not an issue so long as you plan about an hour a day for something fun and mindless, and leave weekends free to do chores/relax.

Edit: Consz, responding here due to rate-limiting.

Not all of us live in the same world. I'm glad to hear you and your friends are doing well, but that's not representative of everyone. I do because I'm currently hourly, and that's true of many of the people I mentioned. When every additional hour worked has more money associated with it, most people will work more; that's not silly. The downside is, of course, there's a distinct opportunity cost to taking time off, so I don't do so much of that.

[williamdclt]

Americans work sixty hours a week? Ten hour a day, rest on Sunday?

[GordonS]

I'm British, but used to work with a lot of Americans, all white-collar workers in the oil and gas industry, across a few different companies.

It seemed to me that the US has a toxic overtime culture, where your perceived value to the company was based in large part by how much time you were at your desk. And of course, you didn't get paid for that overtime. I don't think I met a single person who worked less than 50+ hours a week, every week.

I did ask about this, and was always told it was "normal".

Also, and I might be remembering this wrongly, I think employees only got ten days annual leave.

This was all in a single industry, in a single state, so I don't know how well the observation extrapolates, but it was my perception at the time.

[big_chungus]

Not all, no, but a good few do (I'm sure this varies by industry, region, etc.) Ambitious people tend to do so more than others; there are only so many promotions/pay raises/etc. to go around and I'd rather I get it than one of my co-workers, so it becomes a bit of a positional arms race.

[saiya-jin]

Welcome to the job of doctor for example. But its true that those are outliers, I would expect average to be closer to 45

[consz]

This is silly. My professional cohort doesn't have anyone working sixty hour weeks, and these are people making mid-6 to mid-7 figures. Lot more to life than working, buddy.

[minikites]

Wages have stagnated since the 1970s: https://i.stack.imgur.com/m7EXP.jpg