Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
America’s problems with vacations

America’s problems with vacations

Last updated on: July 17, 2013 at 5:45 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

America’s problems with vacations 2013-07-16T21:37:42-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Robert J. Samuelson says that Americans have a hard time with the concept of a vacation:

In the global rivalry of economic models and lifestyles, the United States ranks dead last among advanced countries in one category: vacations.

It’s not that millions of Americans don’t annually flock to beaches, climb mountains, invade national parks or just hang around the house. We do. But we seem to have a harder time than other peoples in distancing ourselves from work. The office (also, the store, factory or warehouse) is routinely an uninvited guest on our holidays.

We worry that we might be gone for “too long” — meaning that we won’t be missed and that any extended absences might somehow put our job or status at risk. Unfinished tasks haunt us; they corrupt vacations’ pleasures. Some of us can’t even let go of work and, secretly or not, mix it with recreation. Others dread returning to the job. One way or another, the job shadows us. The spread of the Internet, e-mail and cellphones has made separating work from leisure even more difficult. We are reachable at almost any time in almost any place. . . .

A fascinating report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), a left-leaning think tank, illuminates the vast differences. Here’s how the report, “No-Vacation Nation Revisited,” summarizes them:

“The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirements of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries.”

Counting mandated paid holidays, workers in Germany, France and Britain receive roughly six weeks of time off, reports the CEPR. There are many variations among nations as to when vacations must be taken, how much employers control vacation periods, and who qualifies and who doesn’t. In Norway, workers older than 60 get an extra week, says the CEPR report. By contrast, four European countries (Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland) provide extra paid leave for younger workers.

The United States’ decisions are decentralized. Vacations and paid holidays are set by companies, union agreements, school systems, states, the federal government and all other manner of employers. In general, our vacations are shorter than those elsewhere. About 90 percent of full-time employees get vacations that average (with paid holidays) about four weeks, according to government figures cited in the CEPR report. For part-time workers, about 35 percent to 40 percent receive paid time off. Not surprisingly, low-wage workers fare the worst. Only about half of the poorest-paid 25 percent receive paid time off.

There’s a cultural gap between the United States and other wealthy societies. They’ve chosen to take a larger share of their prosperity as extra leisure. We’ve skimped. Economist Timothy Taylor (whose useful Web site, the Conversable Economist, featured the CEPR study) points out that Americans work longer than workers in other advanced societies. In 2011, the average was 1,787 hours a year, 26 percent more than Germans (1,413 hours), 21 percent more than the French (1,476) and 3 percent more than the Japanese (1,728).

It may be that Americans draw more of their self-identity from their jobs than do other peoples. Or perhaps the competitive nature of the U.S. economy and the accompanying insecurities conspire against time off. A recent New York Times story argued that Americans don’t make full use of maternity/paternity leave and “flextime” arrangements (splitting work between home and office), because they’re afraid of being stigmatized as slackers.

We could follow other advanced societies and legislate minimum vacations. This is a debate worth having — sometime in the future but not now. We need to remember the obvious: Paid leaves mean compensating people for doing nothing. There are consequences. The most likely are less hiring (because higher labor costs deter employers from adding workers) or eroding wages (because employers offset the extra costs by squeezing wages). It’s doubtful that mandated vacations would create many, if any, extra jobs. Europe has longer vacations — and higher unemployment. One is not the solution for the other.

via Robert Samuelson: Europe surpasses America on vacations – The Washington Post.

Is it that America has more of a “work ethic”? Or that Americans often don’t have much of a life beyond their jobs? Or are vacations over-rated and we should be increasing our economic productivity and thus improving our economy, even when we are supposed to be resting? How does the principle of the “sabbath” play into this?

HT: Jackie

Previous Post

July 16, 2013

The end of American Protestantism?

Next Post

July 17, 2013 Sex Strike

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"While she worked for Trump she was a tool's tool!"

reg

Luther on Tools

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who did Paul send to check on the Thessalonians when he could not come himself?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Luke Timothy Silas Titus

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »