We Need to Rethink Our Overwork Culture

2020 Democrats are feeding into the “dignity of work” mantra. They should be talking about the “dignity of life” instead.

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Recently, while out to lunch with a colleague, I found out that her four-year-old daughter had just received a study guide for an upcoming test. She mentioned this casually, as if the idea of a preschooler studying for an exam was as normal as a person staying late at the office or taking up a side gig. “These kids have barely learned how to play,” I told my friend incredulously, “and they’re already being sent home with test-prep booklets.”

“I guess it’s a bit strange,” she conceded. “But what can you do?”

I shouldn’t have been surprised by this. The idea that work should always precede play is central to America; it’s hammered into us as early as preschool. And, as we know, Americans work too much. We plow through the standard 40-hour work week. We rarely take vacations or personal time off (even if our employers offer it). We honor our virtuousness as workers with catchphrases like “always hustling” or “you’re crushing it!” — only to try to convince ourselves that fetishizing labor is good and healthy.

But, in fact, work is killing us.

Study after study has revealed the alarming physiological effects of working too much. Overworking can result in stress, high blood pressure, a vanishing libido, and insomnia. It’s no wonder depression costs U.S. businesses an estimated 200 million workdays each year. Conforming to our overwork culture now feels like a survivalist necessity. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the 2020 presidential race.

Just look at how the candidates frame the value of work. Sen. Elizabeth Warren launched her campaign by calling for a restoration of the promise that if you “work hard” and “play by the rules” you can afford to take care of yourself and your family. Joe Biden, considered the Democratic frontrunner, has since shoehorned a similar talking point into his campaign speeches and messaging: “The dignity of work means that hard work pays off for everyone,” Biden said at a recent rally in Ohio. “We can restore the dignity of work.”

“Dignity of work” is a more…