France: Vacation World Champion Again!
Expedia-Harris Interactive just published its annual Vacation Deprivation Survey. France continues to be the reigning vacation champion. In 2007 employed French adults received 36 vacation days, they used 34 vacation days. This is on top of the legally binding working hour maximum of 35 hours per week established by the previous Socialist-Communist-Green coalition. This law is still in force but is gradually being weakened by the new center-right government. By the way almost 75% of French spend their vacation in their own country, whereas 75% of Germans vacation abroad.
Two comments: (1) It is said that what most French really want is a perfectly functioning communist society as envisioned by Messrs. Marx and Engels and (2) no wonder that the infrastructure for vacationing in France is excellent.
How do the French do it? A very high productivity per working hour compensates only partially for these astonishing low working hours per year. But it is not sustainable in the long run. Huge budget deficits and a rapid loss in purchasing power are the other side of the coin. Not sure if the governments slogan "travailler plus pour gagner plus" (work more to earn more) will lead to a fundamental shift.
The Vacation Gulag of the industrialized world continues to be the US. Its vacation infrastructure is underdeveloped as compared to most European countries. A dismal situation which is unhealthy for the individual, families and society overall. It is proven that stress is a health hazard if it occurs over long periods of time. The lack of vacation is a contributing factor to the decreasing health of US society. But the United States' raison d'etat is business, especially the enrichment of the top 5% at the expense of the middle class. Despite the low vacation entitlements US workers use only 34% of their vacation days, as compared to 80% in France and Germany. Why? For normal people it's tough to make the ends meet in the US nowadays.
While Great Britain is the most under vacationed country in Europe, it probably has found the right balance with 24 vacation days. This should be sustainable in a globalized world over the long run.
