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It's a Good Life

We need to start vacationing like Germans.

By Tony LoPinto | Updated on August 30, 2011

It’s a Good Life The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently launched the “Better Life Index,” an online tool that asks people to select their priorities in life and then compares how their country stacks up against the 33 other OECD member countries. The Index contains an overall description of the quality of life in each country, followed by its performance across the 25 individual indicators that make up the 11 topics of well-being. The US ranks high in many categories, but in overall ranking it trails Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Denmark. Those were the names that I would have expected. On the other hand, we Americans are not in good shape on work/life balance. Comparing the US with another hard-working and aggressive economy, Germany, Americans average 1,803 hours a year at work, and the Germans logged in at a more reasonable 1,436 hours. We work an astounding 20% more hours, but I would argue that the German economy holds up well against the US. As you work away this last week of the summer, remember: Your counterpart in Germany is sipping a frosty brew.

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