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66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

(www.cnbc.com)
137 points pg_1234 | 1 comments | 26 Aug 23 08:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.226s | source
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lionkor ◴[26 Aug 23 09:33 UTC] No.37271090[source]▶
> While the average American is lucky to get 11 vacation days

WHAT? Does that count sick days as well, or is that a myth?

Here in Germany, I get 30 vacation days per calendar year, plus any sick days, and thats fairly normal.

Edit: Sure the absolute salaries here are lower, but the cost of living is vastly different and the social support structures and healthcare are different, too. That should definitely be kept in mind.

I dont need to drive my car a lot, because my city is fully walkable/bikeable, and thats not a super rare thing here. There are a lot of factors.

I feel vacation days are just a basic requirement for happiness, whereas being rich maybe isnt

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1. sershe ◴[26 Aug 23 17:55 UTC] No.37275157[source]▶
Hmm, housing in Europe is more expensive than in the US, especially per square meter. Not needing to drive a car is a preference and Americans clearly don't have the same one, it's not an economic advantage for most, and cars in US are cheaper to own. From my vacation experience groceries etc in Europe are much more expensive.

I mean they have disposable income measures that account for all that as well as welfare programs. In the end disposable incomes in the US make half of the first world look like third world:

https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm (click table, and pick gross including transfers)

You can also see % of that spent on housing, US is lower than most EU countries