A British woman expressed her disbelief at the average amount of days that American workers are allowed to take off in an entire calendar year and questioned how people across the ocean can function at their respective workplaces.
In a TikTok video, a content creator named Phoebe insisted that it’s a bit absurd that American workers are not allowed more days off, emphasizing just how miserable many working-class adults are in this country.
The British woman admitted she couldn’t comprehend how few work holidays Americans get compared to people in the U.K.
“I just found out that Americans only get a few days off in the whole year off of work. Why is this mind-blowing to me?” Phoebe incredulously questioned. She urged any Americans who were following her and watching the video to let her know in the comments section if this was the case for them, and unfortunately, many Americans confirmed Phoebe’s findings.
A lot of people admitted that they only receive around 5 days of time off at their jobs, which only “perplexed” Phoebe even more. She pointed out that she always thought the standard 28 days for U.K. workers wasn’t enough but after learning how little Americans get, she’s starting to appreciate the policy in Britain.
She inquired how Americans were able to be happy with so few days off, and the answer is, that some of them aren’t.
Sixty percent of people reported being emotionally detached at work, and 19% reported being miserable. Only 33% reported feeling engaged — and that is even lower than in 2020. In the U.S. specifically, 50% of workers reported feeling stressed at their jobs daily, 41% reported being worried, 22% reported being sad, and 18% reported being angry, according to a Gallup report.
“I mean, I get it. If you enjoy your work, then I’ll be happy for you. But if you don’t enjoy your work and you’re getting 5 days off a year, surely that’s not … I would literally go insane,” Phoebe continued.
“I don’t know how you do it. My hat goes off to you, personally, because I could never do that.”
Interestingly enough, not many employees actually use their paid time off at work.
Among workers whose employer offers paid vacation or leave, 46 percent said they typically took less time off than was offered, a Pew Research Center survey found. Some of the reasons included not feeling they need to take more time off (52 percent), worrying about falling behind at work (49 percent), feeling bad about having co-workers take on additional work (43 percent), thinking taking more time off might hurt their chances for career advancement (19 percent), thinking they might risk losing their job (16 percent), and their manager discourages taking time off (12 percent).
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Some jobs, including pilots, air traffic controllers, and certain finance roles, have mandatory days off by law, but there are a plethora of other professions where it’s up to the discretion of the employee whether or not they want to use their days off.
A lot of the hesitation definitely lies in the rhetoric that work must fill up every crevice of an individual’s life, which isn’t sustainable and shouldn’t be a narrative that is pushed in the workplace.
Employers should encourage their employees to take time for themselves outside of the office. This could mean updating their PTO policies and giving employees more days or making it known that they won’t fall behind on anything while they’re away.
It’s disheartening that in this country, it’s normal and accepted for employees to have a measly 5 days off, and frankly, we should all be as stunned and taken aback as Phoebe is that this is the norm.
Only then can we advocate for something better.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.
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