Work Ethic in an Age of Routinized Jobs and Welfare
The fourth in a series on American Issues Forum examines whether traditional American attitudes toward work have shifted amid routinized jobs, worker alienation, and the welfare state. Heilbroner notes enduring Protestant and Puritan influences and cites historical praise of American diligence from Cot ton Mather, Franklin, and Samuel Gompers, contrasting it with European imports of speed and efficiency.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
American Issues Forum
Robert L. Heilbroner
New School For Social Research
University of California Extension
San Diego
National Endowment For the Humanities
Cotton Mather
Boston
Benjamin Franklin
Samuel Gompers
American Federation of Labor
U.S
Has It Declined in America Is Leisure Replacing Labor
A study notes shifting attitudes toward work with leisure gaining prominence as Americans spend about 50 billion yearly on recreation excluding travel. In 1973 seven percent of families relied on welfare, while youths pursuing meditation drug experiences or dropping out indicate a core shift in work ethic and values.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
America
Heilbroner
Has There Been Change in Attitude in American Work Life
The piece argues attitude shifts are complex. It traces the eight hour day and six day week to AFL aims, notes postwar hours near 45 per week with rising double jobs, and moonlighting. It links welfare and unemployment to job acceptance, and traces fringe benefits expanding into standard rights, culminating in a modern entitlement philosophy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
AFL
Do Changes Mean Work Ethic Decline
Do changes signal a weakening work ethic or a democratization of expectations driven by rising schooling and the growth of human capital. The piece weighs factors, notes growing minimum job standards, and cites experiences from bored mechanics to indifferent hospital attendants as evidence of shifting attitudes to work.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ameri
Puritan Work Ethic and the American Labor Spirit
The piece argues that Puritan beliefs about work shaped the American work ethic, intensified by early capitalism, and supported social mobility. It cites Stephan Thornstrom’s study of Boston-area careers (1910–1963), showing high manual to white‑collar transitions and modest professional shifts, while noting a shift from work ethic to a welfare morality in modern times.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Max Weber
Chicopee
England
Stephan Thornstrom
Boston
Horatio Alger
Welfar
Powder coating transforms GTE lighting fixtures in Reidsville
In Reidsville North Carolina the GTE Sylvania indoor lighting plant uses powder coating to apply a pollutant free high reflectance white finish. The process eliminates solvent pollution lowers costs and yields a harder more reflective coat. Fourteen automatic electro static guns plus two manual touch up guns apply coating as fixtures pass through a 23 foot booth on an automatic conveyor then bake in special ovens for a rock hard finish.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Reidsville
N.C
GTE
Also Mentioned on This Page
By Robert L. Heilbroner
United Press International
Regents of University of California
University of Iowa
Bureau of Instructional Services
East Hall
Iowa City
Iowa
The
Gazette
Third Ave
Repais
Claire DeChristina
Cedar Rapids
Llomay
Satchett
Karen Kehoe Waterloo
Vicki Ehlts
Janet Goetz
Ann Luhring
Waterloo
Mary LeMoine
Joan Herbst
Dubuque
Darlene Welsh
Equitable
James E. Luhrs
CLA
Equitable OF
Insul-Sound
Wintertheater
Insul- Sound Inc
Winterbeater
Insul-Sound, Inc
St. S.W
Zip
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