Overcoming the Post-Summer Slump: Strategies for Exiting the Squirrel Cage of Overwork and Over-Consumption

Published 10-17-06

Submitted by Tellus Institute

With summer a distant memory and fall fully in swing, it's an apt time to take up the topic of overwork and over-consumption - the "squirrel cage" of modern life, as one theorist termed it. Like squirrels caught in a cage, many relatively affluent Americans are running faster and faster and faster, trapped in a cycle of work and spend that is exhausting as it leads nowhere. In a new report from the Well-Being Project of Tellus Institute in Boston, authors John Stutz and Erica Mintzer offer some "Strategies for Exiting the Squirrel Cage."

Numerous well-being studies have shown that, beyond a certain threshold, rising affluence does not make us better off. Yet we continue to pursue it single-mindedly. How did we get here, and how do we get out? These are the questions this new report explores. It examines questions such as:

Are we overworked? Unpacking the conflicting evidence some theorists have pointed to, this report analyzes various findings to conclude that the truth is twofold: a swelling minority is unable to find adequate work, but a majority of Americans are working longer than ever. This primarily takes the form of more weeks per year, rather than more hours per week.

How did we get here? Why are Americans working more with less satisfaction? First, it's become harder to make a living. Incomes for many are not rising, job security has diminished, and over the years families have moved from one breadwinner to two. Second, overwork is exacerbated by over-consumption, as wants have expanded faster over the years than income. Third, debt is at record levels, climbing from 35 percent of disposable income in 1950 to 100 percent 50 years later.

How do we exit the squirrel cage? We can make choices as individuals to exit the cycle, and choices as a society to make the passage easier. Among various personal avenues are options such as downshifting, voluntary simplicity, smaller living spaces (the "not so big house"), and slow food. Social choices include options like making benefits more readily available and legislating shorter hours. These are among the "pushes" and "pulls" that can lead us beyond over-work and over-consumption into a state of higher well-being.

Download and view this report at http://www.tellus.org/index.asp?action=15

Also available from the Well-Being Project of Tellus Institute are two other recent reports:

The Affluence Paradox: More Money Is Not Making Us Happier -
A Review of Statistical Evidence
John Stutz and Erica Mintzer - June 2006

The affluence paradox is simply this: In the early stages of rising income, well-being rises also, but at a certain point well-being levels flatten out. At high levels the trend can reverse, as factors kick like high stress, squeezed family time, or growing pollution. The prevalence of the affluence paradox can be demonstrated statistically. For example, the average suicide rate in affluent countries is higher than in countries just below the affluence threshold. A similar trend can be seen with food consumption, where higher affluence correlates with higher levels of obesity. Using a variety of measures - comparing GDP to indicators like life expectancy and time spent commuting - this paper examines the correlations between affluence and well-being. It finds that on virtually every measure, rising affluence does not contribute to high well-being after a certain threshold. The implications are profound. For the affluent at least, it's not necessary to consume as much in order to be happy. People can slow down. Equally as promising, it may mean that developing nations can find paths to broad well-being that do not follow the path of excess affluence - and excess environmental impact - that Western nations have taken. When we succeed in unlocking the meaning of the well-being paradox - that more money is not the route to greater happiness - our lives, and the world, may never be the same.

What Does Happiness Look Like? The Well-Being Mandala
John Stutz - May 2006

If well-being is not simply about consumption, what is it about? This paper reviews various theories on the question and offers its own conception: the well-being mandala. It's a nested image of various facets of personal well-being (physical, subjective, reflective) residing inside broader social and environmental well-being. Well-being is a concept that's vital for us to understand, because "the pursuit of happiness" may be one and the same as the pursuit of sustainability and planetary well-being. Just as excess consumption has a negative spill-over effect on society and the environment, the reverse is also likely to be true. By pursuing our own well-being, we will - serendipitously - be contributing to societal and planetary well-being.

View papers at http://www.tellus.org/index.asp?action=15

Well-Being Project Director John Stutz is available for interviews. Contact Marjorie Kelly at the Tellus Institute in Boston, 617/266-5400, ext. 278.

Overcoming the Post-Summer Slump: Strategies for Exiting the Squirrel Cage of Overwork and Over-Consumption

Overcoming the Post-Summer Slump: Strategies for Exiting the Squirrel Cage of Overwork and Over-Consumption

Tellus Institute

Tellus Institute

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