Vacation and why Americans take so little
Planet Money
NPR
4.6 • 30.5K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every single worker in the European Union is guaranteed four weeks of paid vacation. No matter how long they’ve been at a company. No matter how low paying the job is. Vacation is a right.
In fact, all but one of the richest countries in the world guarantees paid vacation, except: the U.S.
According to a 2019 study, people in Japan get 10 paid vacation days and 15 paid holidays; in Australia it’s 20 paid vacation days and 8 paid holidays; and in Spain it’s 25 paid vacation days and 14 paid holidays.
And it’s not just a rich country thing: Mexico, Afghanistan, Thailand, Tanzania - they all guarantee paid vacation from work, at least in the formal job sector.
In the U.S: Zero paid vacation days and zero paid holidays.
So, why is the United States the outlier? We go to several labor economists and historians, to find out what makes Americans different from Europeans. It’s a winding journey, so maybe put in a request for some paid time off and take a listen!
Note: This episode originally ran in 2023.
Some articles we mention in this episode:
“No Vacation Nation”
“Study: A Record 768 Million U.S. Vacation Days Went Unused in ‘18, Opportunity Cost in the Billions”
“Why the US is one of only a few countries with no paid time off”
This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez, produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by Maggie Luthar, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Planet Money from NPR. |
| 0:06.1 | Adewale Ma'e went on this big vacation to Europe. |
| 0:10.1 | It was my very first time in Europe. |
| 0:12.1 | Oh, it was beautiful. |
| 0:14.4 | I think... |
| 0:14.9 | Adiwalis' first stop was Spain. |
| 0:17.3 | He was there during the week, Monday, Tuesday. |
| 0:19.8 | And everyone's outside. |
| 0:21.8 | You know, eating, catching a coffee. They're playing. Just, like, having fun, doing things. Just |
| 0:28.0 | flying kites. And I know these... Like adults? Like adults. Yeah. |
| 0:34.5 | Adults. Okay. I legit saw someone who was like 50 years old who was just like playing outside. |
| 0:41.7 | I think they were playing Frisbee. |
| 0:44.3 | I was just like, wow, that's just very, very nice. |
| 0:47.4 | Working age adults. |
| 0:48.5 | Working age adults outside during the workday, during work hours. |
| 0:53.6 | Adiwali is just noticing this, taking it in. |
| 0:56.4 | He's with a buddy. They're at lunch early into the trip. |
| 0:59.3 | So we're having paella, and my friend was like looking around. He was just like, |
| 1:06.2 | bro, what do people do here for a living? |
| 1:10.7 | His friend was thinking the same thing that Adawali was thinking, |
| 1:13.7 | which was, why does it seem like so many locals are not at work? |
| 1:18.6 | And like we're asking around and just like, hey, like what do you do for work? |
... |
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