Britons commute into work, rush around all day, and then do the reverse in the evening. We wistfully think the occasional drink with colleagues would be nice, but we haven't seen the family all day, and besides, staying out means lumbering your partner with the childcare.
Even exercise - supposedly for de-stressing - becomes yet another thing to factor in. It's a disciplined, timetabled life, in which everything works so long as no-one is ill - but is there room to breathe?