U.S. Ranked Among Hardest-working Nations In The World

By Chelsea Karnash

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Americans like to think of themselves as hard workers, and now, a new list has verified that.

CNN Money ranked the hardest working countries in the world, and the good ol' USA made the cut.

Coming in right behind Poland at number seven, Americans racked up an average of 1,798 annual working hours per year.

The article also cites what we already know – that the U.S. is the only developed country not to guarantee workers vacation time each year, and one of the few that doesn't provide workers with paid sick or maternity leave.

Interestingly, workers in mining and logging tend to work the longest hours nationwide, averaging 44 hours per week.

Still, we have it comparatively good when it comes to average wages. For example, workers in Mexico, the country that ranked the number one most hard-working, logged over 2,317 work hours per year, but their average annual wages don't even surpass the $10,000 mark.

Compare that number to the average U.S. annual wages of $54,450, and you'll see that number is more than five times the average wage in Mexico -- for more than 500 less hours of work per year.

In fact, the only country that even came close to the U.S. average was Japan, where workers toil for 1,765 hours a year for an average pay of $35,143.

So, while we are hard workers, we're also getting paid more – much more – than every single other hard-working country on the CNN list.

To view the full roundup, visit: http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/economy/2013/07/16/10-hardest-working-countries