BELLEVUE, Wash., Nov. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/
-- Expedia.com®, one of the world's largest full
service online travel sites, today released the results of the 2016
Expedia Vacation Deprivation® report, an annual study of vacation
habits among employed adults in North
America, South America,
Europe, and Asia.
The study, conducted on behalf of Expedia by Northstar, found
that America again trails much of the world in work-life balance on
the metric of paid vacation. Americans received 15 paid vacation
days from their employers in the past year, and took only 12. With
three days unused, this means American workers effectively failed
to take approximately 375 million paid vacation days within the
past year.*
"We've been looking at vacation and work life balance for more
than a decade now and while many of the employed adults we survey
agree that regular vacations are important for their general health
and wellbeing, there are still plenty who have trouble maintaining
the important balance between work and life," said John Morrey, Vice President & General
Manager of Expedia.com. "We believe vacation, no matter how you
define it, is critical to maintaining this balance and we hope that
Vacation Deprivation serves as a good reminder to take a few days
off and disconnect."
Paid Vacation: A Right in Europe, a Luxury in Asia
Across Europe, paid vacation days are very much a
right. The study found that Spanish workers are given 30 days off
and take all 30. The same is true of the Finnish and French.
Italian and German workers are given 30 days of vacation and take
25 and 28 of those days, respectively.
Being given 30 days off for vacation isn't exclusive to European
nations, however. Brazilians take their full complement of 30
afforded vacations days, as do residents of the United Arab Emirates.
North American countries, specifically the United States, Canada, and Mexico, earn about half that time off work.
Study respondents in each nation report having 15 days available,
and take 12, 14 and 12 days in turn.
North American paid vacation habits most closely resemble those
in Asia. Vacation Deprivation
revealed that South Koreans are given 15 days and take only 8, the
least among the 28 countries surveyed. The Japanese take 10 of 20
days available, Malaysians take 12 of 16 possible days and Thai
workers take 12 of 15.
Vacation Deprivation is a State of Mind
Despite having
30 vacation days available to them, 68 percent of Spanish and
United Arab Emirates workers feel
"very or somewhat vacation deprived," the most among all
respondents. A full 25 percent of Americans described themselves as
"very vacation deprived," the highest percentage in the
field. Only 6 percent of Norwegian and Swiss respondents said the
same.
Guilt and worry prompt many workers to skip vacation. In
particular:
- Nine percent of Americans said they worried that taking their
full allotment of days off "will be perceived negatively" by their
employer.
- About 14 percent of Americans reported feeling high levels of
guilt, with 6 percent of Americans claiming to feel so guilty that
they simply take no time off whatsoever.
- A full 29 percent of Americans reported that they typically go
one year or longer between vacations.
- More than one in five (22 percent) U.S. employees feel they
should wait a year or more into a new job before taking a day
off.
Despite these worries, American bosses are perceived to be
largely supportive of vacation. Seventy-five percent of Americans
felt that their employers are "supportive," in contrast to bosses
in Finland (29 percent),
Spain (37 percent) and
Brazil (42 percent).
Vacation as an Incentive, Key to Happiness
When asked
which perks employees would value most during compensation
negotiations, more vacation time ranked highly. The study found
that:
- Additional vacation was the second most prized work incentive,
cited by 21 percent of Americans, trailing "flexible work hours"
(22 percent) and edging "ability to work from home" (19
percent).
- "Better insurance" ranked fourth.
- Across all 28 countries, only Americans, at 17 percent and
Canadians (11 percent) had "better insurance" desires in excess of
10 percent. The global average was 5 percent.
- Just under a quarter of Americans (23 percent) strongly agree
they deserve more vacation days then they are given.
- The same percentage of US workers reported that the prospect of
additional vacation days would motivate them to change jobs.
- About 15 percent would even agree to a reduction in pay for
more vacation time.
- Roughly 28 percent of Americans say they are "more easily
aggravated" at work if they do not, or cannot, take enough vacation
time.
- Nearly four of ten U.S. workers (38 percent) admitted to making
vacation plans during the work day, just under the global average
of 40 percent.
Disconnection is Desired but Difficult
Among these 28
countries, 10 percent of workers, on average, said they check email
"multiple times per day" on vacation. Slightly more than one-third
(34%) of Americans claimed to "never" check email on vacation.
"Disconnecting from work" ranked third on the list of what makes
Americans happiest when they are on vacation, trailing "exploring
somewhere new" and "spending time with those I am travelling with."
The Swedes and the Danish were least likely to check email at on
vacation, while workers in Hong
Kong, India, UAE, and
South Korea were most likely to
check at least once per day.
About 46 percent of Americans said they would give up social
media for a week for one extra day of vacation. More than half of
Americans (51 percent) would avoid alcohol, 41 percent would
abstain from coffee, 29 percent would skip television and 28
percent would give up sex. About 21 percent of American survey
respondents said they would forego the internet entirely for one
additional day off. A full 8 percent vowed not to shower.
A deeper analysis of Vacation Deprivation can be found on
Expedia Viewfinder.
Vacation Practices
by Country
|
Country
|
Vacation Days
Offered
|
Vacation Days
Taken
|
Unused
Days
|
Australia
|
20
|
15
|
5
|
Austria
|
25
|
25
|
0
|
Belgium
|
24
|
23
|
1
|
Brazil
|
30
|
30
|
0
|
Canada
|
15
|
14
|
1
|
Denmark
|
25
|
25
|
0
|
Finland
|
30
|
30
|
0
|
France
|
30
|
30
|
0
|
Germany
|
30
|
28
|
2
|
Hong
Kong
|
14
|
14
|
0
|
Ireland
|
21
|
21
|
0
|
India
|
21
|
15
|
6
|
Italy
|
30
|
25
|
5
|
Japan
|
20
|
10
|
10
|
Malaysia
|
16
|
12
|
4
|
Mexico
|
15
|
12
|
3
|
Netherlands
|
25
|
22
|
3
|
New
Zealand
|
20
|
19
|
1
|
Norway
|
25
|
25
|
0
|
Singapore
|
18
|
14
|
4
|
South
Korea
|
15
|
8
|
7
|
Spain
|
30
|
30
|
0
|
Sweden
|
25
|
25
|
0
|
Switzerland
|
25
|
25
|
0
|
Thailand
|
15
|
12
|
3
|
UAE
|
30
|
30
|
0
|
United
Kingdom
|
25
|
25
|
0
|
USA
|
15
|
12
|
3
|
* As of September 2016,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there
were just under 125 million Americans who work full-time.
About Vacation Deprivation
Expedia first commissioned
Vacation Deprivation in 2000 to examine the work-life balance of
Americans. In 2005, Expedia began comparing behaviors across
countries. As of 2016, Vacation Deprivation has grown to encompass
28 countries. 9,424 employed adults aged 18 and older were asked by
Northstar about work-life balance in September 2016.
This study was conducted on behalf of Expedia by Northstar, a
globally integrated strategic insights consulting firm. It was
conducted online from September 12 to
September 29, 2016, across North
America, Europe,
South America, and Asia Pacific using the Kantar-owned GMI
(Global Market Insite) and Lightspeed Research amalgamated group of
panels. The study was conducted among 9,424 employed adults aged 18
years of age and older across 28 countries. Sampling quotas and
weighting were used to ensure the sample is representative of each
country's population in terms of age and gender. Assuming a
probability sample, the margin of error would be +/-1.0 percentage
points, 19 times out of 20.
About Expedia.com
Expedia.com® is one of the world's largest full service travel
sites, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book
travel. Expedia.com (https://www.expedia.com/, 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims
to provide the latest technology and the widest selection of top
vacation destinations, cheap tickets, hotel deals, car rentals,
destination weddings, cruise deals and in-destination activities,
attractions, services and travel apps. With the Expedia® Best Price
Guarantee, Expedia.com customers can get the best rates available
online for all types of travel.
Expedia, Expedia.com, Expedia+, Find Yours, Vacation Deprivation
and the Airplane logo are either trademarks or registered
trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the
property of their respective owners © 2016 Expedia, Inc. All rights
reserved. CST # 2029030-50.
Web site: https://www.expedia.com/
About Northstar
NORTHSTAR is a strategic marketing
insights and consulting firm that aligns leading edge, customized
research techniques and cultural context with proprietary and
proven strategic marketing frameworks and models to drive insights
to impact. Northstar's suite of services relate to the most
critical elements of brand, customer and marketing strategy, with
sector expertise in travel and tourism, retail, automotive, CPG,
food & beverage, financial services, pharma / health care,
transportation and fashion / luxury. For more information,
please go to www.northstarhub.com.
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