Travel Habits of Americans: 42 Percent Didn’t Take Any Vacation Days in 2014

We have been tracking the travel habits of Americans throughout 2014 with a series of surveys and as we enter 2015 the picture of when and how many vacation days workers in the U.S. take is still pretty bleak.

And of course, the number of vacation days taken directly correlates to whether Americans travel inside or outside the country, and how that affects the health of the U.S. travel industry and its various constituents in airlines, airports, hotels, destinations, attractions, and other related sectors.

In case you missed previous surveys, here is the bleakness:

• Travel Habits of Americans: Only 13 Percent Traveled Abroad for Holidays in Last Year
• Travel Habits of Americans: Almost Half Didn’t Take a Single Day Off This Summer
• Travel Habits of Americans: 63% of Adult Americans Have Not Traveled in Last Year
• Travel Habits of Americans: Only 10 Percent of Americans Travel Frequently For Business

In a new survey conducted over the first few days of 2015, we asked Americans about how much vacation they took in the just-finished 2014, and the topline result is as predictable as it is shocking: nearly 42 percent of Americans said they didn’t take a single vacation day during 2014! On the other end of the spectrum, about 15 percent of Americans said they took more than 20 vacation days last year.

Many full-time employed Americans get at least ten vacation days, and our survey shows only 13 percent of adult Americans could afford to actually take that many vacation days for the year.

The other topline results from the breakdown, as you will see in the charts below: Women took fewer vacation days than men; young Americans are skimping on vacation days; suburbia is taking slightly more vacation days than rest of the country; workers in the U.S. South took least vacation days while those in the U.S. West did most; and the poor are bearing the brunt of least amount of vacation days in the country.

Important: This survey — not served to Skift users — was administered to 1500 members of the U.S. adult internet population in Jan 2015, through Google Consumer Surveys. The methodology is explained here.

» Topline result, Chart 1 below: 

» Breakdown by sex, Chart 2 below: Women were more overworked in 2014 than men in America.

» Breakdown by age, Chart 3 below: One part of older America is taking no vacation days, while another part is taking the most. The 25-34, the millennial generation, is also overworked in a recovering economy.

» Breakdown by region, Chart 4 below: Americans living in cities are taking least number of vacations.

» Breakdown by income, Chart 5 below: Rich Americans took most number of days off in 2014, while the opposite happened at the poorer ended of the spectrum.