Not Enough Sleep

Feeling tired? Had a bad night trying to sleep? It’s common in the US.

“We need at least seven hours of sleep a night, but only 35 percent of Americans report sleeping between seven and nine hours on average, according to Gallup’s State of Sleep in America 2022 Report.
It wasn’t always this way. According to Gallup polling data from 2013, only 11 percent of us were sleeping six hours or less per night in 1942, but that figure had risen to 42 percent by 1990.“

And if Gallup polls and Vox reporting isn’t enough proof;

“Sleep loss is such a common problem that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared it a public health epidemic.“

As for the numbers to prove that this isn’t just an issue of comfort;

“A Rand Corporation report seeking to quantify these costs found that the US is losing $411 billion a year, or 2.28 percent of its GDP, due to insufficient sleep.“

Multiple jobs, societal stresses, an emphasis on what separates us instead of brings us together, financial issues, housing issues, education, … The list of affects pervades our culture and society because everyone must sleep. From that 11% in 1942 (during a World War with impacts at home, too) to today’s 35% is a trend that is unsustainable. And, of course, the people most affected are the poorest who have to take multiple jobs, raise children and sometimes aid aging parents, while having poorer access to doctors and vacations.

As they say in the (well-written article in my opinion);

“We need to change the social conditions that are keeping us awake in the first place.”