Time Essay: Is the Work Ethic Going Out of Style?

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IN the pantheon of virtues that made the U.S. great, none stands higher than the work ethic. As Richard Nixon defined it in a nationwide radio address: "The work ethic holds that labor is good in itself; that a man or woman at work not only makes a contribution to his fellow man but becomes a better person by virtue of the act of working." Lately the President has so often mentioned the work ethic—and so often suggested that it may be endangered—that its veneration and preservation have become something of a campaign issue. The President warns ominously: "We are faced with a choice between the work ethic that built this nation's character—and the new welfare ethic that could cause the American character to weaken."

In Nixon's implied demonology, the man who stands for "the welfare ethic" is George McGovern. Candidate McGovern briefly proposed that, as a substitute for some existing federal assistance programs, the Government give a $1,000 grant to every man, woman and child in the land, whether working or not. Yet McGovern, every bit as compulsive a worker as Nixon, is solidly in favor of the work ethic, saying "I have very little patience with people who somehow feel that it is of no consequence if they do not work." He contends that most people share his dedication to toil, and will work if only given the opportunity.

But will they? Or is the work ethic really in trouble?

There are signs aplenty that the ethic is being challenged, and not just by welfare recipients. In offices and factories, many Americans appear to reject the notion that "labor is good in itself." More and more executives retire while still in their 50s, dropping out of jobs in favor of a life of ease. People who work often take every opportunity to escape. In auto plants, for example, absenteeism has doubled since the early 1960s, to 5% of the work force; on Mondays and Fridays it commonly climbs to 15%. In nearly every industry, employees are increasingly refusing overtime work; union leaders explain that their members now value leisure time more than time-and-a-half.

Beyond that, an increasing number of Americans see no virtue in holding jobs that they consider menial or unpleasant. More and more reject such work—even if they can get no other jobs. Though unemployment is a high 5.5% of the labor force, shortages of taxi drivers, domestic servants, auto mechanics and plumbers exist in many places.

Young adults are particularly choosy; many have little interest in the grinding routine of the assembly line or in automated clerical tasks like operating an addressing machine or processing a payroll. The nation's 22.5 million workers under 30, nursed on television and still showing their Spock marks, may in fact be too educated, too expectant and too anti-authoritarian for many of the jobs that the economy offers them. Affluence, the new rise in hedonism, and the antimaterialistic notions expressed in Charles Reich's The Greening of America have turned many young people against their parents' dedication to work for the sake of success.