Vacation Frustration: Europe Gets So Much More — Dave’s Diary

Labor Day is coming fast, kids are headed back to school and vacation season -- short as it is -- is nearly over for this year. Ah, to work in Europe where the vacations are, shall we say, a bit more generous!

As much as we might like a little more balance between work and life, we sure don’t get it. In fact, we're ranked 28th in the world for it.

On average, American workers get about two weeks paid vacation every year while people in Europe get about four weeks. Workers from Sweden get nearly six weeks off to do whatever they'd like.

But if we had as much vacation time as those from Europe what would happen? On the good side, economists say travel would go way up, restaurant consumption -- particularly in vacation areas -- would benefit and it just might improve the health and well-being of U.S. workers.

On the down side, it would knock down the country's productivity by a significant amount, which would mean lower salaries and therefore less money to spend on that vacation! (Yahoo)