Want Paid Vacation? Ditch America

Here's a depressing statistic: A quarter of Americans don't get paid vacation—and the US is the only wealthy country that doesn't guarantee it. We're also the only one without a promise of a paid day off for official holidays, observes the Center for Economic Policy and Research in a new report. The runner-up for fewest vacation days is Japan, where folks get at least 10 paid days off, the Washington Post reports.

Compare that to Europe. In Austria, they get the most time to relax: Along with 22 vacation days, they snag 13 holidays and a month's worth of pay to ease the cost of vacation. In other words, the country has 212 working days and 153 days off, including weekends, the Post notes. Greece, meanwhile, gets four weeks and six paid holidays; the Germans and French each get about 30 days; and the Brits get four weeks. While most US workers do get paid time off, it's far more common among well-paid workers; just half of those earning a lower hourly wage get the benefit. (More vacation stories.)