Looking forward to a nice cold beer at the end of the work day? Here's some good news: it probably won't take you very long to earn it.
A recent infographic in the Economist found that a worker making the median hourly wage in America only had to work about five minutes to earn what it costs to pay for a beer. According to the infographic, it takes Americans the shortest amount of time to pay for 500ml of beer when compared to workers in 149 other countries.
Click here to see the infographic.
The average retail price for beer in the U.S. is $1.80, the Economist cited. That means the average American earns about 96 beers a day, or 480 a week, while on the job.
Worldwide, it takes the average worker about 20 minutes to earn a beer. In India, it takes a worker nearly an hour of work to afford a beer, which costs on average $1.40. Beer is the most expensive in Japan where it cost $4.15 for 500ml of brew, on average.
Beer affordability is important to Americans who consume beer more than any alcoholic beverage. That said, Americans only spend about 1 percent of their budget on alcohol, according to NPR. In 2011, U.S. residents spent 60 percent of their alcohol budget at the store and 40 percent at restaurants and bars.
U.S. beer shipments rose for the first eight months in 2012 after three straight years of decline, the Wall Street Journal recently reported.
Wondering what your beer of choice says about you politically? Check out this slideshow:
