Millennial women aren’t taking the vacations they’ve earned
The quest to become a ‘work martyr’
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Jena McGregor.
Young women aren’t using the time off they’ve earned.
Only 44 percent of millennial women said they were using all their vacation time, according to a survey conducted by Project Time Off, an initiative of the U.S. Travel Association.
That’s down from 46 percent last year.
There was a jump in young men’s willingness to take time off: 51 percent said they’d used all their vacation days, compared with 44 percent last year.
In explaining why they weren’t using all their time, young women were also more likely to say they felt guilty, replaceable or wanted to “show complete dedication.” On every measure, whether it was the fear of returning to too much work or worrying that no one else can do their jobs, more young women were concerned about the effect of vacation than young men.
“They’re more likely to identify with that ‘work martyr’ brand of thinking,” said Katie Denis, the lead researcher for Project: Time Off.
The data also showed a similar gender divide in other age groups, Denis said, although it was most pronounced among millennial women. Forty-six percent said it was a good thing for their boss to view them as a work martyr, compared with 43 percent of millennial men and 38 percent of overall respondents.
The average American worker
Overall, Americans are reporting that they’re taking a little more time away. Project: Time Off’s survey of 7,331 Americans showed that vacation use rose to an average of 16.8 days per worker, up from 16.2 days the year before. That’s still way under the 22.6 days the survey respondents said they receive.
For the second year in a row, vacation use had climbed slightly since it began tumbling around the year 2000.
Glassdoor’s survey of 2,224 U.S. adults found that U.S. workers on average have taken just 54 percent of their allotted time.
“Americans are really bad about taking their hard-earned vacation or paid time off,” said Scott Dobroski, Glassdoor’s community expert. “I say it that way because there is a monetary value here. It’s part of people’s total compensation package.”
Company culture
The survey also found a divide among job title. Senior executives may say they hear more at work about taking vacation and believe their company culture supports it, but they’re also less likely to actually use it. Sixty-one percent said they left some vacation time unused, compared with 52 percent of people who are not managers.
The effects of working online
The ability to work from anywhere contributes to Americans not taking time off. Where there is WiFi or service, we can see emails populating on our phones.
“When you can see it stacking up in real time, that can be very discouraging,” Denis said.
The Project: Time Off report showed that vacation forfeiters said their biggest reason for doing so was because of their fears about returning to a mountain of work.
This may help explain why, according to Glassdoor, some 66 percent of Americans say they spend time working when they are on vacation, up from 61 percent three years ago.
