7 Incredibly Depressing Stats About Vacations In The U.S.

Americans get less vacation and take less vacation. Revolt!

1. Americans get fewer paid vacation days than their counterparts in almost any other developed country.

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On average, Americans who receive paid vacation get around 12 to 14 days. Numbers are similar in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

2. But Americans still don't use all their vacation days.

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Take full advantage of what you get, right?! Nope. According to an Expedia survey, the average American employee has two days left over at the end of a year. A Hotwire survey, meanwhile, said it was more like 6.2 days.

3. This accounts for over $30 billion of unused vacation days.

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Per CNN Money: "Altogether, Americans are giving up 226 million unused vacation days this year. Considering that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average full-time worker earns $39,416 a year — that's $34.3 billion worth of time."

4. In France, Spain, and Germany, employees get an average of 30 days' paid vacation.

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So, about that E.U. passport...

5. Since people don't want to deal with flying, 41 million trips are never planned every year.

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It's true! Planes are cramped vessels of misery, full of germs and crying babies, and airports...well. But the U.S. Travel Association says those 41 million trips never taken could have brought $26 billion to the U.S. economy.

6. Even when people try not to use the Internet on vacation, they can't stop themselves.

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Despite studies showing that taking a break from work email can actually lower your heart rate and generally improve your health, the situation is well, basically hopeless.

Researchers at Michigan State University studied how people use technology on vacation, finding, unsurprisingly, that people are more hooked to Wi-Fi and smartphones than ever before. But they also found that "vacationers who may not have planned to use the Internet did so because it happened to be available to them." There is no escape!

7. And a quarter of Americans don't get paid vacation at all.

Among low-wage workers, that number rises to as many as 31%.