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Do Millennials Really Vacation as Much as We Think?

Nov. 19, 2017
3 min read
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Do Millennials Really Vacation as Much as We Think?
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Millennials get a lot of flack for being lazy, entitled, narcissistic and are dogged for spending most of their time pondering what they're going to post on Instagram next. Although these are the stereotypes that society throws around, the data may not back up those clichés.

A recent report from travel giant Expedia said that a large numbers of millennials aren't taking time off to travel.

The 2017 Vacation Deprivation report said millennials are actually the most affected age group in the world, with 62% being "vacation deprived." What makes it worse is that 18 to 35 year olds also receive the least amount of vacation time, meaning it would be impossible to relax more even if they wanted.

Adding onto the stress is that millennials say they are the most likely to be connected to work while on holiday. 41% of younger workers feel stressed by having to check in while out of the office.

The survey included more than 15,000 working adults from over 30 countries and included other findings about the psychology of why people don't travel. 43% cited budget constraints, 30% wanted to save up vacation days while 22% said they weren't able to get away from work.

"Globally, 60% of millennials surveyed reported being either somewhat or very vacation deprived," ​said Christie Hudson, Expedia's US communications manager, to HowStuffWorks.com. "In the US, that number was 62%. Globally, vacation deprivation is on the rise (53% up from 49% from 2016), as is the tendency to stay connected to work while on vacation (24% in 2017 up from 20% in 2016)."

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Millennials seem to be in a bind, with a lack of vacation and time-off, other surveys have shown that the young workers consider travel a top priority for their spending.

While the numbers look bleak, there is some good news: Overall all Americans feel less vacation-deprived than they did in 2016 and Expedia reported an 8% drop in feeling guilty about taking time off. Unfortunately, that hasn't fermented into tangible days away from the office. The number of vacation days received, used and lost remained the same as last year, with an average of 15 days allotted but with workers only using 12 of those days.

Do you plan to use all of your allotted vacation days? Let us know in the comments below.

Featured image by Getty Images

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