Related link: Michelle Obama on Military Families
Numerous watchdogs such as factcheck.org have already pointed out that the president's words were taken out of context and distorted. Still, it got us thinking: compared to the rest of the world, have we become a nation of idle couch potatoes? We took a look at some pertinent statistics for men, women, and children.
Here's what the numbers say:
Average annual work hours in 2010
- Koreans: 2193
- Chileans: 2068
- Americans: 1778
- Canadians: 1702
- English: 1647
- West Germans: 1409
- Dutch: 1377
Verdict: Average
Source: Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development
Minimum mandatory annual paid leave
- France: 30 work days
- Australia: four weeks
- Netherlands: four weeks
- United Kingdom: four weeks
- Canada: two weeks
- Japan: 10 days
- United States: zero days
Verdict: Not lazy
Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research
Compulsory maternity leave
- Netherlands: 16 weeks
- Germany: 8 weeks
- Denmark: 6 weeks
- Japan: 6 weeks
- United Kingdom 2 weeks
- United States: zero weeks
Verdict: Not lazy
Source: Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal
Retirement age
- Turkey: 45
- Greece: 57
- South Korea: 60
- France: 60.5
- United States: 66
- Norway: 67
Verdict: Not lazy
Source: U.S. News and World Report
Standard school year
- Japan: 243 days
- West Germany: 240-266 days
- Netherlands: 200 days
- United Kingdom: 193 days
- France: 185 days
- Canada: 180-185 days
- United States: 180 days
Verdict: Lazy
Source: The Atlantic Monthly Online
Math skills of 15 year-olds (averaged rank 2009)
- South Korea: Number one
- Finland: Number two
- Switzerland: Number three
- Netherlands: Number six
- Estonia: Number 11
- United States: Number 25
Verdict: Lazy
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Looking at the numbers, compared with the citizens of other developed countries we aren't lazy: we take little vacation, retire late, and don't spend much time at home with our new babies. But it is no secret that we are falling behind with our education system--which does not bode well for the future of the United States. Are our children lazy? No. Our children can only use the tools we, as a nation, give them. Maybe the president should have used the word "foolish."Related links:
Pizza is a vegetable, Congress says
Yahoo! Readers ask Michelle Obama and Jill Biden
Why single-sex education is a bad idea
