American Needs More Vacation!
Essay by 24 • November 14, 2010 • 388 Words (2 Pages) • 1,543 Views
RE: Americans need more vacation
"I really need a vacation!"
Is there a more common phrase in the workplace in America today? I'm sure all of us had uttered that phrase at least once in the last 12 months. Americans are so vacation-deprived, then why is it that almost a third of the American working adults are giving up some earned vacation this year, and when they do go on vacation they still do some work by checking in with office communications, according to a Harris Interactive vacation-related poll?
The following table below indicates that the U.S. ranks 10th in term of average number of vacation days around the world per year, with the average of just 13 days per year compared to the United Kingdom's 28, and Italy's 42 days per year. Even the average worker in Japan - where the term karoshi, which means "death by overwork", was coined gets five weeks of annual paid vacation.
Average Number of Vacation Days Around the World Per Year
Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days
Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO).
We like to think that we've got the world's highest standard of living with the per capita GDP of $37,800, 3rd highest in the world , and yet, we are the only industrialized nation that refuses to mandate vacation for workers in the private sector. And if you
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