Why Are Americans So Afraid To Take Vacation?

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/why-are-americans-so-afraid-take-vacation

Imagine waking up early every morning, going to the office, working for eight-plus hours, and then commuting back home, only to repeat the process all over again the next day.

Trudging through the identical routine day in and day out, like a duller version of Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day, with no variety to break up the monotony of daily life, is reality for many Americans. Last year, millions of U.S. workers—some 41 percent of the population—didn’t take a single vacation day. Almost one in four don’t receive any paid time off at all. And overall, Americans are taking less vacation time than at any point in the last four decades.

These figures come from the results of a yearlong survey analyzing American travel habits, conducted by the travel site Skift. Using a sample of 1,500 adult American Internet users, Skift came up with a wealth of disheartening data. In 2014, Americans left 169 million paid vacation days untaken, effectively surrendering $52.4 billion in benefits. According to the Center for Economic Policy Research, a non-profit think tank, most Americans receive 10 paid vacation days in addition to the six federal holidays. Yet across the socioeconomic spectrum, millions of people, from white-collar office workers to low-wage retail employees, are neglecting to take advantage of this paid time off.

[easychoice]

1. your 41% is the people who drive to work in blizzards...

They come to work sick.They are so insecure they aren't comfortable if they think they are going to miss something.
I have had them come to work with Strep throat and pneumonia.I don't get it.

[DLevine]

3. Many people are forced to come to work sick.

If they don't, they risk being fired. It happened to me many times. Also, many people do not get paid for sick days, and just can't afford to take off.

[MindPilot]

16. Even if I stay home, I end up still working.

Answering emails, phone calls; I don't get actual sick time so I'm not going use up vacation time to work from home.

Plus I can accumulate that time and turn it into cash when I get fired or quit. Vacation time is layoff insurance.

[easychoice]

44. There are a lot of poorly educated 4yr.old managers out there.

You don't make any money working sick help. Ever.
I had a pretty good employment situation though.
It was a Union Shop and I had a lot of discretion about what I could allow.
But when I ran the show if you showed up sick you went home for a couple of days.If you don't allow that as a Manager you have a shop full of sick people instead of a few.So for me it was just a survival tactic.Same with snow,don't kill yourself getting here the work will be here.

[CTyankee]

46. But you are constantly afraid that if ONE person makes it in, it makes you look like

you were an excuse taker. NO EXCUSES, they say. If you are dedicated you'll do "whatever it takes" in the snow to get to work.

I go so sick of workplace shit like this I couldn't wait to take my SS at age 65 and just quit. Any joy or happiness or pride I had in accomplishment was just destroyed by the soul crushing so-called "work ethic" in this country. Workers are being bullied, pure and simple.

[marions ghost]

61. ++++++++

"workers are being bullied, pure and simple" -- and often they are so used to being bullied, they accept it as the way things have always been, and should be.

[Nay]

65. AAAAAAMEN. When I retired I never looked back. I'm so happy

puttering around with my projects and garden. The work ethic can go straight to hell, as far as I'm concerned. It's a message of slavery.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

78. "Workers are being bullied, pure and simple."

I think it is that plain and simple.

[deutsey]

2. I'm sure anxiety over money factors into it

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102317918#.


Car accidents, unexpected medical bills, an emergency plumber visit—there are all sorts of events that can interfere with even the best budget plans.

But according to a study released Wednesday, more than 60 percent of Americans do not have enough rainy day funds set aside to deal with even minor calamities.

Just 38 percent of Americans said they could cover an unexpected emergency room visit or even a $500 car repair with cash on hand in a checking or savings account, according to Bankrate, which commissioned the study. About 26 percent would reduce spending on other things, and 28 percent said they would either borrow from family or friends or use credit cards.

[hobbit709]

4. you don't get any vacation time in a lot of jobs.

Or it's difficult to get the time off approved-like my housemate where it took 3 months to get a week vacation approved and only then after he emailed the owner.
Many people, especially in the service industry get no sick days so they come in sick because they need the money. Call in sick and you get fired.
No matter how rosy some try to portray the economy for most people it's still an employer's market.
you get $9/hr for a job that 15 years ago paid $10/hr.

[ileus]

5. At 2-5k a wack vacations are expensive.

[brooklynite]

12. So stay home...

sleep late, go for a hike, take in dinner and a movie, visit some relatives. Vacations don't require a resort hotel or 10,000 mile plane flight.

[underahedgerow]

18. They can be, sure. But sometimes it's nice to just sit at home, being local, puttering

around, getting caught up on chores or just doing nothing.

Or spend half at home and half away on an adventure!

[Skittles]

57. you don't have to spend any money to take a vacation

[Adam051188]

6. vacations are a first world thing

[xchrom]

8. and if you live in the first world it's a problem. nt

[Adam051188]

9. do I? what's the definition of a first world country?

[xchrom]

24. i'll give you 3 guesses -- the first 2 don't count. nt

[Humanist_Activist]

43. Vacations came about in industrial societies, not necessarily in the "first world" however that's...

defined today.

Are all these nations first world?



http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1002&pid=6056033

[Adam051188]

48. your list is bogus.

Interwebs are highly unreliable these days.

[B Calm]

7. With no union protection, some workers worry the employer

will think the guy doing their job while they were out is better.

That said, I'm more apt to believe it's because of low wages and the employee is struggling to try to get ahead.

[madville]

10. I take mine regularly

I get 50 paid days off a year between vacation, sick, and holiday leave, I think I have about 39 hours in reserve at the moment, I usually take a bunch of three and four day weekends regularly.

[yeoman6987]

31. Your probably a better worker for it too

Too many don't get that recharge needed and end up doing lackadaisical work. Not good for anyone.

[newfie11]

11. I drove to work in blizzards as that was my job

On a mobile medical unit in rural western SD and surrounding multiple states.

BUT you can bet your boots I took every vacation day off I had!!!!

I can't imagine never getting away from work!
Now enjoying retirement.

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. Early in my career ...

I had a mentor who called me into her office after I had taken a couple days off. She asked me to put my finger in a cup of water, then remove my finger. She then asked me to point to where my finger had been. Of course, I couldn't. She said, "the cup of water is the company and your finger is you ... the company will go on whether you are here or not. It's built that way."

I walked away thinking I had been admonished for taking time off ... until, after working 70+ hours a week for a 8 week stretch, she called me back into her office ... and did the same thing.

Her message was ... find balance and take the time that you need, being mindful of what is happening around you.

[adirondacker]

20. I think the balance has been well studied and is the reason there is a typical 35 hour work week

and 30 days paid vacation in the majority of westernized countries.

I know I was once told that a "good" vacation takes at least 16 days. Three days to adjust to your surroundings, and three days to adjust getting back into the routine again, leaving ten days of actual time spent enjoying your new surroundings. It's the magic number and has worked for me in the past. Of course it's been 12 years since I've been on a vacation of any sort, but my new job will finally allow me to do it this year. I look forward to the relief.

[Gormy Cuss]

45. Yep. If the company can't survive without you, it's a sole proprietorship.

Early on I had a good manager who pointed that out to me and later when I became a manager I passed it along.

[1StrongBlackMan]

49. And much to the dismay of many business owners ...

most businesses have the ability to survive the absence of the owner.

[Gormy Cuss]

50. And thrive even!

[Recursion]

14. Not enough people are working

I've had jobs where I was perfectly free to take a vacation, legally, but if I did the business would more or less fail because they didn't have anyone else who could make the servers work.

In general businesses have been wringing every last drop of productivity of existing workers rather than hiring on more (whereas 50 years ago a larger workforce was an ego boost). We need to change that mindset back to what it was 50 years ago.

[meaculpa2011]

15. I don't take vacations because...

I HATE VACATIONS!

I especially HATE group vacations, yet I am regularly pressured to go along.

I don't.

I love my work and I'd rather be working than sitting on a beach somewhere gazing at the horizon.

Saying that, I do enjoy my diversions. I'll tee off or go fishing at sunrise, enjoy myself for a few hours and still get to work on time.

[tenderfoot]

36. I love my work and I'd rather be working

like you are now.

[tabbycat31]

73. I hate vacations too

I went a lot as a child (not my choice) and I was very stressed out all the time and didn't do well in close quarters with my family (and my mom and I have very different ideas about what a vacation should be).

I enjoy my diversions and travel quite often for work, but I'm just not a vacation person.

[underahedgerow]

17. This is one of the main reasons I won't move back to the USA. In France we get 1 month

vacation every year, typically in August, and it's paid for.

In the US I had a very good local government job for many years, and accrued about the same amount of annual leave. Since I never used up my sick days either, I had about 6 weeks off every year, or I could cash it out. I can't even imagine trying to parse out a measly 2 weeks a year now, no matter how high a salary I'm being offered.

A month just seems so much more reasonable and civilized. And the idea that most people take it in August just makes good sense.

I always believed in the 'plan your work around your vacation' ethic anyway. My own happiness is far more important than any job that's out there.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

19. We're too materialistic is one answer

Europeans plan on a certain percentage of their household budget going towards a nice holiday every year, while Americans plan on buying more stuff. Even the lower classes in England manageto rent some little cabin on a (cold) English beach somewhere. LOL When I lived there, we spent all winter pouring through holiday catalogues. And seed catalogues.

Yeah, call it a generalization, but there's some truth there. Even when the economy was doing much better in the U.S. and we were all a bit better off, we still wanted more "stuff."

[Capt. Obvious]

21. If you take a vacation

your employer may realize they don't need you.

That's the mindset for some.

[ieoeja]

26. Did you read the post immediately after yours? A bit ironic!

My 18 year old kid started a job this summer two weeks before we were slated to go on vacation. Told them during the interview we had that vacation planned and paid for. "No problem," they told him.

Two weeks later we went on our vacation. He came back to a demotion and a cut in hours.

I have a good job. Been here 24 years. But I'm not blind to the fact that some employers are scum. In fact, I've had two such jobs myself in the past.

[PassingFair]

39. My daughter was in the same situation, retail job...

They told her to resign and they would re-hire her when she got back.



She took a higher paying job with another store.

Jerks!

[dembotoz]

22. last job took week off came back to pink slip

honest to god
1st day back

[MindPilot]

54. Happened to me too.

Some backstabbing POS told the boss that I had announced my intention to not return. I had made an off-hand remark that my destination was nice enough that I may want to stay. I was gone a week and my replacement was working in my spot when I returned.

I learned from that.

Another time I had to choose. The day I was scheduled to leave for vacation, the boss called and told me if I didn't come in I would be fired. That cost a couple hundred dollars in cancellation fees.

I learned from that too.

[Alkene]

23. Part-time, minimum wage jobs...

in the service sector don't come with benefits, like vacation time. And even if they did, how are you gonna pay to travel anywhere? Barter off your food stamps?

[LibertyLover]

25. I am very, very lucky and I know it -

I get 30 days of paid vacation time a year, 12 days of paid sick time, most US Federal holidays and once in a while a day off when some group decides to picket The World Bank. We must take at least 120 hours of annual leave in the year that it was accrued, so about 14 days, and we can only carry over 600 hours, about 70 days, to the next year. Right now I have 215 hours of annual leave accrued, so roughly 25 days, and 140.75 sick days at my disposal. I also have 5 days of compensatory time that I need to use. We also have 5 days of family/emergency leave. But, because I am not a foreign national, I don't get home leave or travel grants for myself and my family.

[marions ghost]

64. Not lucky but very privileged

not the norm.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. Unlike the NYPD, most Americans don't want to show their employers

that the business/organization can roll right along without them.

[Javaman]

28. To Paraphrase The Clash...

You have the right to vacation time...

if you are stupid enough to actually try it!

know your rights...these are your rights...



welcome to corporate serfdom.

we are replaceable and replaced daily.

[LWolf]

29. I'll bet that

people who get paid vacation take more of those days than people who don't.

Some people who get those days also get a bonus for not taking them; that's a financial incentive. Some might fear that taking those days will affect them when hours or jobs are cut.

There are many more people who don't get paid for vacation time, or even sick time.

I get plenty of "vacation." As a teacher, I have many days off. All of those days are unpaid. I work a contract which includes a certain number of calendar days. I tend not to take actual "vacations" on days not in the contract; I can't afford to. I'm often trying to find various other ways to make money during that time.

I get 10 sick days a year. I rarely take them. Only if I'm infectious, which never happens, or I'm in such bad shape I can't be functional. Why? Because the writing of subplans and cleaning up after what happened while I was gone actually takes more hours than just showing up and doing the job to begin with.

[Ace Rothstein]

30. My wife and I always use all of our vacation time.

Both of our companies are very good about pushing their employees to use their time. I guess we've both lucked out. I just worked only 15 days from 11/19 through 1/4, was very nice to have some time to myself and to take a trip to Brasil with my wife.

[stevenleser]

32. Article answers its own question. 25% dont get paid vacation, thats the bulk of the 41%

Of the other 16%, I have been so embroiled in an important project that I didn't take vacation in close to a year. That might be the case for some of those folks.

[Johonny]

33. THe older I get the less I want to take vacations

They are a major pain in the *. If you enjoy your job and your home life then who the heck wants to hassle of a vacation with its $$, airport security, renting a car, finding a hotel, losing your luggage, etc... I can't wait to get back to work.

[Skittles]

59. why do people think they need to leave home when they are on vacation?

[needledriver]

34. There are people who work

only eight hours a day?

[alarimer]

82. I am one of them, usually.

In at 8, out at 5, on the dot, if possible. That's what I'm paid for; that's what they get. I don't get paid overtime in any case.

As long as everything gets done, why should they care if I work late or not?

Exceptions are field work or meetings out of town, which typically takes longer.

[tenderfoot]

35. Some of the responses to this is utterly depressing

I hate this world.

[BlueJazz]

53. Tell me about it. What the hell are we ?? Ants??

[LanternWaste]

37. I get two weeks a year. I cash in one week and save the other week for sick and emergency days.

I get two weeks a year. I cash in one week to assist my income with utilities, groceries, etc., and save the second week for sick- and emergency-days (as we get no sick or PTO time).

Granted, I'd enjoy taking a week off and simply lay about the apartment reading, watching movies, etc., but it's not worth the short-pay weeks later on in the year if I get the flu or a stomach bug.

[uppityperson]

38. An old job allowed us 1 sick day/month, but if we used oftener than 3 months, were put on revie

review and if we continued to use them oftener than every 3 months, would be penalized somehow and eventually fired.

Scheduling paid vacation through work can be very difficult, pressure put on to not take it, same as sick days.

[Blue_Tires]

40. I know this is just a small part of it, but

Flying in the post-9/11 world (especially in high-traffic times) with merged airlines cost-cutting airlines, consolidated routes, domino-effect delays, security checkpoints, etc...Has kind of made air travel SO much bigger of a hassle than it used to be...You have to really plan out your shit weeks in advance now, and a lot of the old spontaneity of just deciding to go and buying a ticket 2-3 days in advance is long gone now (although it is easier for those who live near a major hub airport)


And some people feel constrained about having to lug the spouse/kids along, OR having to travel alone and lonely...Just my 2 cents...

[SomethingFishy]

41. Who can afford it?

I would love to take one or two vacations a year. Not happening. The best I get is 3 weeks off for the holidays and I sit at home because I haven't even seen a cost of living raise in 12 years.

Luckily, I'm a roadie, so every day I wake up in a different city and work with different people... No time to be bored!

[WillowTree]

42. I get 22 days PTO plus 3 "diversity days".......

.......and I take every minute of it. The good news is that my bosses are 100% supportive of it. I had a trip planned early in December and all of Christmas and New Years weeks scheduled to be off and when I mentioned to my manager that he'd likely not be seeing a whole lot of me in December, his reaction was "And don't you dare feel guilty about taking it! You've earned that time. See you in January."

Very lucky that way. My sup and manager are really great guys.

[WinkyDink]

47. "Imagine...?" What a bizarre sentence opening, for what is something innumerable people LIVE.

It's like saying, "Imagine eating breakfast" or "Imagine driving a car."

[Dont call me Shirley]

51. Afraid? It's more like afford.

[Skittles]

58. you don't have to spend any money to take vacation

[Dont call me Shirley]

63. If one can't even afford to miss a day, yet alone a week of work, then a vacation becomes

unaffordable.

[Skittles]

68. are you referring to people who do not get paid vacation days

well that's a given that people may not take vacations

but many people who have paid vacation days do not use them - it seems to be an American thing

[Dont call me Shirley]

69. A paid vacation should be the law. And paid sick days. And paid holidays.

[Skittles]

71. oh absolutely

it makes no sense for sick people to feel obligated to work, possibly spreading the virus

[valerief]

52. Why would American employers be any better than our Congress? A slave-labor corporate

America elects a slave-labor Congress.

If we want better employers, we need better lawmakers.

[MindPilot]

55. Quick answer...vacations are a shortcut to the unemployment line.

Some of the stories in this thread demonstrate that pretty clearly.

[Skittles]

56. I forfeited five vacation days last year

because the only two people who could cover for me had issues (one taking care of an elderly ill father, the other some personal problems).....technically I could have taken them and MADE them work but I actually care about my coworkers

[workinclasszero]

60. Because I can't get the time off

and even if I did I wouldn't have any extra money to go anywhere or do anything.

Way way back in my Dads time, you actually got a check to go along with your vacation. I myself have never seen one in my entire working life.

So theres that.....

[marions ghost]

66. A lot of people use their vacation time

to help family out--elders or kids especially. I see a lot of that. So really it doesn't amount to a vacation even if you take time off, for many hardworking people.

And like you say--you might have the time, but not the money to go anywhere.

Americans continue to put up with it.

[workinclasszero]

67. Yup there you go

The days of the working class in America getting a fat vacation paycheck and taking a trip somewhere died way back in the 70's for most folks.

[marions ghost]

70. I think that's true

the idea that people don't take vacation trips because they want to spend money on something else doesn't mean they're just blowing money on useless "stuff." It might make more sense to get the car repaired or buy a fridge than go to the Grand Canyon (or where ever).

Disposable income--ie for vacations--has disappeared for so many working families. And if you can't even save up for necessities adequately how are you going to save up for trips?

[workinclasszero]

72. Right. Who the **** has "disposable income" anymore?

What gets me is the surprise that many still have about it. Like americans dont want to load up the car with the family and go to a national park or Disney world or something, damn!

WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY FOLKS!

Its like the retirement experts saying oh you need 500,000 to a million dollars in savings for retirement! Really Mr expert? LOLOLOL!

Or they tell you to wait till your 70 to retire when all the working class people I know take it at 62 and keep right on working like I will do God willing!

I'll retire when they plant me 6 feet under. Sure glad I'm living in this randian paradise called the USA and not in one of those dirty socialist European countries with cradle to grave medical and prescription drugs for free and a month paid time off a year for every job.

[marions ghost]

84. With ya on that

some people do not get the reality of life in a Corporatocracy.

Yet.

[workinclasszero]

88. Maybe when the teabaggers force millions off SSI and food assistance and

social security, we will finally get these fascist bastards/republicans into the garbage bin of history where the damn traitors belong!

[marions ghost]

91. see ya

at the barricades (symbolically speaking).

[shanti]

74. when i was working

i had a 10 hour workday, 4 days a week, my choice that. it allowed me to bank LOTS of vacation time, so when i retired, i cashed in. working that 10 hour day gave me a three day weekend. three days off in a row was good for a nice "long weekend" vacay, and i was comfortable with it.

now, if my boss had allowed me to go 1/2 time, working tues-thurs, i'd not have retired until much later, but he was a stubborn asshole. i'm sure he's feeling the pinch now, as i was the biggest producer in the unit, always there and on time, and often did others' jobs when i had downtime. my actual job only really took 4 hour to do...heh.

[Taitertots]

75. My old supervisor wouldn't give me a weekend off (among other things) so I quit. His boss promoted me over him.

The only way to reverse this trend is to quit your job if they don't give you enough time off.

[upaloopa]

76. I take all my vacation and sick days

And I take holidays off. I have been working for over 50 years. I think I have worked long enough. Retiring in 16 months

[peacebird]

77. For the first time in my life I am a contract worker. No paid holidays/vacation/sickleave

No insurance, no 401k. I see many companies now embracing the contractor model. It sucks.

[tenderfoot]

79. In the same boat.

But with a 401k. I'm currently looking into State law in regard to vacation time for contractors.

[peacebird]

80. Interesting, what state? I doubt very much if Virginia has any protections for contract employees...

[tenderfoot]

81. California

eom

[Rhythm]

83. I don't get PTO, and can't afford to take unpaid days off unnecessarily

My employer offers no 'benefits' whatsoever, so there's no paid sick-days nor 'vacation' time.
Typical small-business in a college-town, where turnover is high and most prospective employees are still young enough to be on mom and dad's insurance and such.

Unless i'm physically ill (which doesn't happen much), i don't take time off at all.
The last time i did, it was while recovering from surgery, and i was back in less than a week.

I simply cannot afford to. A missed day equals about $80-100 off of my paycheck.

[Bettie]

85. At my last job

Vacation time was seldom taken by anyone. At the end of the year, anything you didn't take was paid out in cash.

The few times I did take vacation time, unless I was out of town, I got called in because there was invariably some emergency project.

At least I got paid overtime, most didn't.

Now, I am fortunate enough to stay home with my kids...plus, DH's job requires a lot of travel and an unpredictable schedule, so it works better for me to be here.

On the plus side, his job demands that they take their allotted vacation time. No carry over and if you haven't scheduled any vacation by about the end of May, you'll hear about it and be asked to schedule something.

It is a good company to work for; they don't try to screw their employees over at every turn.

[distantearlywarning]

86. I am one of the lucky ones

10 days PTO (will increase to 15 next year), 5 days sick leave, 10 holidays which I am allowed to float (I.e., work the holiday and add 8 hrs PTO to my pool for later), can carry 160 hrs into the next year. I also typically only work 8 hour days and there is some flex in those hours (I don't have to punch a time card at 8 am or anything).

We are encouraged to take at least 2 weeks yearly and almost everyone does. The reason why is that we are govt contractors and the contract money will run out every year too early if everyone works 52 weeks a year. And by law we can't bill o
ver 40 hours per week.

This has been my experience every time I have worked with or for the govt, and can recommend govt work to anyone for that reason. They aren't allowed to abuse you the way the private sector does.

[shanti]

89. Big "yes" to that

about govt. work. We can thank the unions too.

[Scruffy Rumbler]

87. I would love to take a vacation....however

after moving across country to care for my mother, being unemployed for the first two years doing that and finally finding a job in my profession that pays less than my last job and nowhere near full time level and NO VACATION PAID TIME.....well it just scares me all to hell....er no I CANNOT afford to go on vacation. Oh the last time I tried to take a week off? I worked extra shifts the week before and scheduled extra shifts the following week. However, my mother chose that week to begin dying. So not only did I cut my "vacation" short, I ended up missing all my hours the following week. So my last vacation, I actually had a pay period with no money!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

90. I work with a lot of European companies and they find their American employees just baffling

They don't find people foregoing vacations or working weekends extra-diligent, they just think it's pathetic. They regard them as losers or assume they're "having trouble at home" and avoiding the wife by staying at work.

[marions ghost]

92. Obviously they don't understand

American culture where fear rules.

[MrMickeysMom]

93. I can tell you why this American hasn't taken a vacation in 2014...

or 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, or 2003...

Time off to take care of family until 2007, when there were no vacation benefits included in a career that used to afford that kind of full time benefits.

No more…. I have to save my paid days off to tend to family, house-hold the the like. I even held a political office whereby when I attended a high school reunion, I phoned into my usual municipal meeting. So, I don't KNOW WHEN our next vacation will be. Maybe this year.

Isn't this similar to what most working Americans are doing these days? How messed up is that?

Pretty M E S S E D up!