From those I know and see most work about 8 hours, 5 days a week. But I read on the internet that alot of americans work 50 hours or more a week. Is this really true or is it only a small portion of the population? Thanks for any real life data!
It depends.
Some work much less than 40 hours a week, depending on what they do.
Some, on the other hand, can work 60 hours or more – day-laborers, especially illegals, come to mind.
It’s a bit difficult to live in New York City on a $4-$7 wage (actually, it’s impossible) so I see this a lot.
As far as I understood, the Average American works a 40 hour week. However, our culture has been blessed with a weekend, so most jobs don’t land you in the office on a Saturday and Sunday.
All I know is, that there are other countries that don’t have a weekend to kick back and relax, and so in some third-world countries, it isn’t irregular to be working a 50-60+ hour week.
I don’t have an internet source, however, if you want to learn more about the work hours and conditions of other countries dealing with sweatshops, you can read “No Logo” by Naomi Klein. Other than that, I’m pretty useless to you 
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I read that some companies require an 84 hour week… If I work in a company that works from 8 AM to 8 PM and decide to leave at 5 PM every day would they fire me even if I did my work very well? Would the “team” pressure be so great that I couldn’t choose but stay until 8 PM ? Then are companies forcing long hours on people without any real reason ?
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Thanks alot for your information! I thought that “professionals” had some freedom… I live in suburb south NJ and worked in some small IT companies and I could leave when I wanted as long as I did my job well . But your information is valuable because if I change company at least I know how tough they will be…
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I seriously doubt that the average American works 40 hrs. per week. I have a friend that works a part time job which is 35+ hours a week and her husband works 70+ hours a week. Under the presumtion that the average american has a full time job and goes to work 5 days a week then the most likely amount of time worked would be closer to 45-50 hours a week. When I was in high school I has a summer job that was 40 hours a week (since it was contract labor it didn’t violate any laws). If in high school I worked 40 hours a week and now currently unemployed (life sucks) then the average american adult would most likely work more than 40 hours.
Thanks again for the info. Hmmmmm… I don’t think I’ll change company… I have a friend who told me that most companies use a simple strategy; they let you leave after the 8 hours (you don’t have to ask) but the guys who stay a few hours each day get ahead no matter how much they suck while even if you work very well in the 8 hours, the fact that you leave after 8 hours means you’ll never get a raise or promotion. They simply discrimanate on the hours of presence. Do you think this is true?
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Some professions do indeed expect/require very long hours. I’ve spent most of my adult life as a chef, for example, and 50 hours would be a pretty lax week.
I am unsure, but I believe unemployment may be a factor in the amount of hours the ‘average american’ works, though I may be wrong. As abgrund has pointed out though, according to Psychology Today, the amount of hours is estimated to be more around 44… though no offence, I am not a big fan of that site, given that the essays submitted do not need to be approved by a professional, and also do not allow peer evaluation 
With growing trends, I can understand why the figure would rise, given that our society appears to rely more heavily on a dual income, which is an issue in itself.