The only way to get a vacation is to quit your job

The most emailed article from yesterday's NY Times is about quitting your job in order to take a vacation.

Many young people in the workplace are finding that quitting their job is becoming the satisfying new alternative to the standard, entry-level benefit for vacation. As they found out, the two weeks allowed to most young employees is barely enough time to visit their parents for Christmas, go to a friend's wedding and take a long weekend

Why do Americans get so little vacation time, usually only two weeks per year, when six weeks is the norm in Europe? If the United States is getting wealthier every year, then surely we have advanced to a stage where people can take more time off from work than they did a generation ago? Unless we're getting poorer and not richer, which would explain it.

Comments

[Jewish Atheist]

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

If this continues, employers will hopefully realize that it's a lot cheaper for them to give more vacation than to have higher turnover. I highly recommend choosing a job with a lot of vacation or negotiating it into your salary. Two weeks is absurd.

[Hoser]

I have chosen one job opportunity with slightly less pay over another strictly due to the former starting me with 4 weeks vacation vs. the 2 weeks at the higher paying job.

i'd like to look back one day and value that extra free time vs. the slight increase in income i could have had.

[KingM]

The ironic thing is that although I tend to agree with you that Americans are not as wealthy as we're led to believe (at least not the circles I run in) jobs are plentiful enough that it's not so difficult to pick up a new, equally crappy job when you return from your vacation.

It was largely because I got so sick of dealing with two weeks of vacation that I quit the job market altogether:
http://theopinionator.com/selfsufficiency/DropOut1.html

[SciFiGeek]

Weak job market and supply and demand. The economy isn't good if you're not at the top.

Collapse of unions probably didn't help either.

[pjw]

I worked with a woman from Europe for a year or so, she was appalled at the paltry vacation time that Americans (and of course her) receive. I think I am too.

[michael vassar]

When I was in cubicle hell I had lots of time off. 2 weeks of vacation. 6 holiday days per year. 20 days per year for continuing education. 5 sick days per year
Trouble was, the boss would have been very pissed if I had actually used all that time. In practice I had to come in much more than the numbers indicated.