The 5 best and 5 worst countries for work-life balance—and American workers have it bad

Sadly, Americans are fresh out of luck. Surveying over 4,200 adults with full-time jobs from 22 different countries, Remity found that people living in the United States are subjected to some of the weakest work-life balances, alongside Australia, Ireland and Norway.

The online remittance service based in Seattle gauged how many hours respondents worked, the length of their commute, their sleep schedule, the length of their work day, and their overall level of work-life satisfaction. From there, the team ranked each country on a “Work Quality Score” out of 100. The U.S. received a score of just 36 and placed 19th out of the 22 countries that Remity ranked. 

While employees in the U.S. have, on average, lower commuting times than the other countries surveyed, once they’re in the office, they’re expected to work longer. Essentially, Americans are subjected to the longest average working day and it’s killing their work-life balance, according to the report.

The Finnish have the best work-life balance—and nearly an hour less work than Americans

For seven years now Finland has been crowned the happiest country in the world by the Happiness Report. It seems as if the Finns’ relationship with work aids their cheery mood.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Finland has the best work-life balance of all countries surveyed— receiving a score of 73 out of 100. 

Full-time employees have an average working day of seven hours and 44 minutes, almost an hour shorter than the United State’s eight hours and 29 minutes. Flexible policies and longer work breaks also fed into Finland’s high score.

The top five countries with the best work-life balance are as follows:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Switzerland
4. France 
5. New Zealand

And here are the five countries with the weakest work-life balance (with Austrlia taking the cake of the worst of the worst)

1. Australia
2. Norway
3. Ireland
4. United States
5. Hungary

Why workers in the United States find it almost impossible to unwind

Poor work-life balance can stoke burnout—or a feeling of exhaustion caused by chronic…