Rising bright and early on a Saturday used to be a matter of survival in Germany． (62) the 1990s most shops closed for the weekend at 2 pm. Today you can (63) into the wee hours every day except Sunday. In most German states shophours are, or about to be, fully () . That should lay to rest the (65) that Germany is anti-consumer. But it also (66) a change in attitudes to time.
Germans have long fretted over time. Wasting it is forbidden； (67) is required. The country’s austere Protestantism helps to explain this, but (68) may a culture of industrial might. The efficient division of labor requires a (69) schedule. And the family (70) of a lone male breadwinner set a broad daily framework. With few mothers working, shop opening hours could be short, schools could open for only half the day and child care assistance was (71) .
Yet with the economy (72) driven by services, this time corset (紧身衣) is gradually loosening. More than half of employees now (73) their own working hours． (74) two-thirds of all women work, up from half in the 1970s. Then there is digital technology： (75) arriving on the dot, you can send a text message apologizing for being late． (76) , many Germans seem to have trouble adjusting to their new flexibility. There are objective reasons, such as the continuing (77) of child-care facilities, which makes it harder for mothers to combine jobs and children.
(78) , this is all an outcome of rising wealth and ever more distractions. Yet there are also (79) barriers that keep Germans from using their time better. One is a bias (80) hiring help, which many see as akin to slavery. Germans spend much time toiling at home unpaid： (81) other countries have so many home-improvement stores.