To wonder why US dramas fetishise workolism?...

[coconuttella]

... Grey's Anatomy, West Wing, Suits... I could go on, but all seem to worship at the altar of the all-consuming career.

Yes everyone works long hours and gets little annual leave.
I lived West coast nearly 30 years. I never had a paid annual leave ever. I never worked 40 hours a week so never earned any, I did 20/30 or so hours a week, and worked for myself too. So no paid leave. Dh worked full time got 10 days a year plus a few bank holidays.
Me up at 5,45 daily, kids to school classes started at 7.30 20 years of that from the first child starting to the last one then moving back to UK.
I'd take unpaid time off for the kids summer holidays (not the whole summer) so I could take them away, Dh never got time off in summer due to his job's busy season.
Maternity with my first was 6 weeks.
Daycare centers and home daycares take babies from 6 weeks. To them it's normal, so the kids don't know any better.

I think 5/6am isn't an unusual time to get up in the UK (particularly for commuting into London). Brits just seem to stay out later and stumble into work a bit groggy, which would have an American employer thinking that you were an alcoholic

Yes everyone works long hours and gets little annual leave.

According to a 2010 study by WorldatWork, American workers with traditional vacation plans receive an average of 22 vacation days per year, while those on paid time off plans receive 29 days annually.

smallbusiness.chron.com/average-paid-vacation-time-workplace-22507.html

In my last job I started on 23 days a year, and had gone to 28 days a year when I left. If I'd stayed I'd have gone up to 33 days a year. I was a regular worker - not management or senior or anything.

DH gets 25 days a year but they don't really track it carefully so he can take more if he wants. He's a Vice President.

His boss - the CEO - pops into work once every few days.

Plenty of people in the US take their vacation and don't work crazy long hours. I do think the average working day is slightly longer though. 8 hours is classed as a normal full-time working day.

And talking about family time - my kids do loads of sports, and pretty much every kid has a parent attending their 5pm games. Lawyers, doctors, nurses, managers - most of them move their schedules round to be there fairly regularly.

MrsFrumble How does a 7 pm finish work with childcare arrangements? When I was with a big law firm, I went in early, but I usually had to leave right at 5 to pick up children on my days to do it (DH and I took turns.)

SenecaFalls our local nurseries are open until 7pm (central London) or you have a nanny that will work until handover.

It wasn't an issue for us SenecaFalls as I was a SAHM throughout our time in the US, and still am now we're back in London. When littlest starts school and I go back to work I'll be working shorter hours than DH. I don't work in the same industry as him.

Here in the UK the families I know where both parents work long hours have live-in nannies.

BeAlert like many studies the averages can be skewed by those in teaching etc. Similar to how the average UK wages is regularly quoted as 27-30k when that would never be attainable to most people.

Not rtft but:

It'd be pretty boring tv if we see them sitting around binge watching Netflix and eating crisps or grocery shopping or laying in bed playing candy crush

Not exactly the above but definitely not demonstrating workaholism: Friends.

BeAlert - yup, the baseball teams are run by doctors and lawyers, the PTA by accountants and HR directors, and all manage to get time off for children 's activities or to finish in time to run practice twice a week from 5pm

BeAlert like many studies the averages can be skewed by those in teaching etc.

Unlikely in this case. In teaching they don't use PTO schemes yet the report shows that on average those employers using PTO schemes get 29 days per year.

Yes, 5 pm is the magic hour, not just because of childcare arrangements, but because of many activities for children that the parents might be involved in as well.

I work like this... easy 8am-9pm and I don't switch off when I'm home either. It's relatable to me

Because basically welfare doesn't exist. You don't work, you don't eat. You don't wander your the doctor and get signed off. Your 10 days sick pay don't go very far.

We live and work in the US, we work 40hrs a week, TV certainly does not reflect reality in my state

wooster, I was going to say that too. Plenty of people in the UK work long hours. I am up at 5:30 to hit the gym at 6 and in the office by 8. Often not home before 8 and often work over the weekend too. I love my job.

I live right near the Canadian border. It's only fairly recently that people have needed a passport to travel back and forth to Canada, so although almost everyone I know has been to Canada (lots of youngsters go there to drink for the evening as it has a lower age for drinking) very few have a passport.
They do need one now, so I imagine more people will get a passport. We live so close that there are people who commute in each direction, and we've been to Canada for an evening out. I don't know how many people are affected by changes in border checks, but the low number with a passport doesn't mean that only that % have left the country.

According to a 2010 study by WorldatWork, American workers with traditional vacation plans receive an average of 22 vacation days per year, while those on paid time off plans receive 29 days annually.

Thats nice, but no one we knew who lived by us and had kids same age got anywhere close to this, all had to work a full 12 months before any leave entitlement, then got 10 paid days, plus some bank holidays, Dh had to work 10 years with his company (a nationwide grocery chain) to get 15 day a year plus bank holidays.
I'm sure that those getting good holidays are more than likely upper management and CEO's the normal folk don't see those kinds of days off.
Our baseball team coaches were run by our local dentist and others who could work hours around the practices and games, many self employed who just made sure to finish on time. We had a self employed surveyor, a Dentist, a gym owner, I forget who else.

BeAlert According to your link my Dh did well to get 10 days.
It says.
Most vacation plans reward seniority, with new employees receiving significantly less time off than company veterans. WorldatWork reports that under traditional vacation plans, new employees receive an average of eight days vacation, 10-year employees receive 17 and those with 20 or more years on the job get 22 day

Freshly I thought the median UK salary for full time work was about 27k? Quick google and wiki suggests median FT earnings of over £500 a week. Obviously that masks a big issue in that many people want full time work but can't get it though.

Re commuting in the UK, I seem to recall reading somewhere that London has the earliest average wake up time in the UK, 6am. I would have thought maybe the surrounding areas would be earlier though, as people are up early to commute. People do have long commutes in the north sometimes, my DH is up early to get into work early and leave before the traffic, but it's less common.

I heard that in general the Americans get fewer days annual leave but once you've worked for a company for 10 years you get a one off sabbatical - maybe 3 weeks(?). Is that true/usual?

Apart from reflecting reality, all tv programmes skew real life to fit in with the main theme of the programme.

Look at British soaps. All of the characters live within five minutes of their workplace, drink in the same pub every night, marry their neighbours, have affairs with each others spouses and ask each other to be their bridesmaids and best men. They seem to have no lives or friends away from the street/square/village.
That doesn't reflect real life either.

I actually think your post is quite insulting RhubardGin and shows no awareness of the difficult decisions people have to make, which sometimes result in having to walk away from something they really want.

Being fertile isn't a 'choice' but, as others have said, not adopting or fostering is.
A choice some people don't opt for because they have very valid reasons. Sometimes you have to make very difficult choices.
Anyone who longs for a child and is unable, for whatever reason, to have one deserves huge sympathy.

I have a question for any Americans : is working part-time a realistic option for parents in order to spend.more time with their childen? Would they still get healthcare? Can people afford to work reduced hours in general?

I can't imagine only having 2 weeks off a year.

Anyone I know that has a part time job in the USA has a spouse that has full health coverage for the family.

I do know of two mums who do a job share. They have split a full time job but they have been working together for a long time so it is easy.