Jeb Bush: Americans ‘Need to Work Longer Hours’

2 minute read

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Wednesday made a proposal that may fail to gain widespread popularity.

In an interview with New Hampshire’s The Union Leader, Bush said that to grow the economy by 4%, “people need to work longer hours.”

The candidate’s campaign team said his comments were a reference to underemployed and part-time workers: “Under President Obama, we have the lowest workforce participation rate since 1977, and too many Americans are falling behind. Only Washington Democrats could be out-of-touch enough to criticize giving more Americans the ability to work, earn a paycheck, and make ends meet,” a Bush aide told ABC News. Bush’s opponents, meanwhile, used his remarks as a point of attack. The Democratic National Committee released a statement calling Bush’s statement “easily one of the most out-of-touch comments we’ve heard so far this cycle,” and citing them as proof that Bush would not fight for the middle class.

Bush’s remarks are a good opportunity to reexamine just how much Americans work. In short: a lot.

Americans logged 1,788 hours of work in 2013, one of the highest totals among industrialized nations, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. A report from tax and consulting firm EY in May found that 58% of managers in the U.S. say they work more than 40 hours a week. By comparison, just over a third of managers in the United Kingdom and just less than a fifth of managers in China said the same. In the U.S., close to one-third of managers reported an increase in hours in the past five years. A Gallup poll from last summer found that the average American works about 47 hours each week—nearly a full day longer than the traditional work week.

See Jeb Bush's Life in Photos

Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, Jan. 1, 1955.Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right: Doro, Marvin, Neil, and Jeb Bush, fall 1963.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right: Doro, George, Jeb, Marvin, George W., Neil, and Barbara Bush, 1966.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush (center) was the varsity tennis team captain during his senior year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., 1971. Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George Bush and his four sons, Neil, Jeb, George W. and Marvin in 1970. Bob E. Daemmrich—Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb and Columba Bush on their wedding day, Feb. 23, 1974.George Bush Presidential Library
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush loudly applauds his father, Republican presidential hopeful George Bush, at a campaign rally in Concord, N.H. on Feb. 28, 1980.Frank Lorenzo—Bettmann/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Vice President George Bush holds a fish with his sons George W. and Jeb during a family vacation in Kennebunkport, Maine in Aug. 1983.Cynthia Johnson—Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
From left to right (without children): Neil and Sharon Bush, George W. Bush and wife Laura, Barbara and George Bush, Margaret and Marvin, Bobby Koch and Dorothy, Jeb and Columba, are seen in this Bush family photo taken in Kennebunkport, Maine on Aug. 24, 1986.Dave Valdez—White House/Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush plays cards with his son while riding in a recreational vehicle, Nov. 8, 1993.Christopher Little—Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Jeb Bush is interviewed at a Miami Radio Station, WIOD, Mar. 1980. He went on to become Governor of Florida in 1999.Tim Chapman—Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
George W. Bush and Jeb Bush at the Republican Governors' Convention in New Orleans, 1998. Nina Berman—SIPA
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Texas governor George W. Bush celebrates good news with his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, while watching the presidential election returns, prior to being elected as President of the United States, inside the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Nov. 7, 2000. Brooks Kraft—Sygma/Corbis
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Republican governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, studies his laptop watching vote returns for his reelection his wife Columba Bush and his parents, former President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush in Miami on Nov. 5, 2002.Joe Burbank—Orlando Sentinel/MCT/Getty Images
Jeb Bush Life in Photos
Republican nominee for President, Mitt Romney, campaigns around Florida with Governor Jeb Bush, left, Senator Marco Rubio, right, and Congressman Connie Mack, left back of head, in Coral Gables, Fla. on Oct., 31, 2012. Melina Mara—The Washington Post/Getty Images
Jeb Bush speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.
Jeb Bush speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. on Feb. 27, 2015.Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME

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