People sleep fewer hours than they did many years ago. This is because we tend to work longer hours compared to the past and this results in fatigue.
People tend to sleep less compared to the past because they are expected to work more. This is because the work life is now more compatative than ever before and workers have to get more done or they may fall behind or be replaced by someone else. This means people have to wake up earlier and do not return home until late in the evening, thus cutting into their sleep. Furthermore, they dont have time to relax and it desturbs their sleep pattern. For example, recent study showed that the average employee works 2.5 more than average workers in 1980s.
the primary effect of this widespread fatigue. That is to say large sections of the population do not sellep 8 hours as required and this results in a high percentage of them being too tired and live their life less effectively. This could mean underperformance and overall more stress at the work. Some of them could even have health problems. For example, a basketball team employed a sleep expert and the studied players who sleep less than 8 hours a night had more injuries and actually performed worse on the court.
In conclusion, people are more sleep deprived than in the previous generations due to longer working hours and the effet is that many are tired and exhausted