OPINION: More Leisure Time
A family enjoys a vacation on the beach, as they should. (Pixabay)
Nathan Kim (SFS ‘23) is a regular writer for the Middle East and Central Asia section and a guest writer for the Caravel's opinion section. The content and opinions of this piece are the writer’s and the writer’s alone. They do not reflect the opinions of the Caravel or its staff.
It’s no secret that Americans work long hours: an average of 1,779 hours per person during the year 2019, to be exact. If the average workday is 8 hours, the average American worker then worked almost 14 days more than an average Canadian worker, 30 days more than a British worker, and almost 50 days more than a typical Danish worker. Japanese workers, perennially stereotyped as having a fanatical devotion to work, actually work almost 17 days fewer in a year than the average American does. The same applies for the Germans, who are right behind the Danes, working almost 49 days less in a year on average than the average American does. Around the world, it is Americans, not Germans or the Japanese, who work themselves to the bone. Yet, for all their hard work, Americans do not even enjoy the same benefits that many around the world take for granted.
Too many Americans do not receive any vacation days. Few are paid during their vacation. Too many Americans are forced to return to work mere days after the birth of a child or to go to work while sick for fear of retribution from their boss. But this does not have to be the case. With some simple and long-needed reforms, the United States can greatly increase the amount of leisure time that the average U.S. worker can enjoy. This is not a question of resources or material limitations: the United States is a very rich country. It is instead a matter of political will, an effort that will define the future of American workers—will they live to work or work to live?
The Case for Paid Vacation
The United States is one of the only countries in the world that does not guarantee paid vacation time for its workers. In the U.K., France, Germany, and other industrialized countries, workers generally enjoy at least five weeks of fully paid vacation every year. As is often touted on the internet, a typical Danish worker at McDonald’s enjoys 6 weeks of paid vacation a year. And yet, in 2018, more than 28 million Americans did not receive any paid vacation days. If the U.S. is indeed going to secure more leisure time for its citizens, then paid vacation is a must.
One possible solution that would be relatively easy to implement is to mandate paid vacation on all federal holidays. Currently, there are ten federal holidays spread unevenly throughout the year; a paid vacation bill might even increase that number to 15 holidays, or three weeks total (with five working days in a week). It would be helpful to have those holidays fall on a Friday or Monday as well. Then, the government could also mandate an additional two weeks of paid vacation outside of federal holidays, bringing the total amount of paid vacation to five weeks.
Of course, implementing this all at once may put a strain on businesses. An alternative plan could mandate the 15 federal holidays immediately, but gradually add two non-federal vacation days every year until the total eventually reaches five weeks. At this point, the U.S. would finally have around the average amount of vacation days mandated among other developed countries.
The Case for Paid Family Leave and Sick Leave
In addition to paid vacation, government-mandated paid family leave and paid sick leave are two other examples of worker benefits enjoyed by the vast majority of workers around the world that remain inaccessible to Americans. In the United States, new parents are often forced to choose between parenthood and employment. Many people return to work just days after their child has been born. This is especially hard for new mothers, who face termination from work if they do not return as employees after giving birth. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, new parents in Sweden are able to enjoy 480 days of paid parental leave. Employers are also prohibited from firing or discriminating against employees who take parental leave.
Across much of Europe, new parents can expect multiple months of paid parental leave, while there are precisely 0 weeks of paid parental leave mandated for American workers. The same situation exists for paid sick leave. Americans do not enjoy federal protections for paid time off to recuperate from illnesses, while more than 179 countries offer paid sick leave to their citizens.
Therefore, in order to provide the same benefits offered by peer countries, a combination of federal paid parental leave and paid sick leave is necessary. Right now, the Biden administration is backing a new family plan that would offer 12 weeks of paid parental leave and seven paid sick days each year. This is a good step forward, but it is still underwhelming compared to peer countries. Even more generous paid parental and sick leave is needed to bring the U.S. up to the rest of the world’s standards.
A Brighter Future
The United States today lags behind other developed countries in providing leisure time for its people. However, Americans now have a wide variety of implemented, tried, and tested programs and systems around the world to choose from. There is little need to innovate new institutions or conduct research on untested policies: other countries have already created good models the U.S. can emulate. Furthermore, the awareness of worker rights in this country is growing rapidly. In fact, policies that would increase the amount of leisure time for workers are already making their way through the gears of government. Americans right now are loudly demanding the same rights that their peers in other countries already enjoy. With the reforms already mentioned, and perhaps a few others, there is no reason to believe that the average American worker cannot enjoy a luxurious life of peace and plentiful free time.
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