52% of Working Americans Will Give Up Vacation Days this Year

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More than half of Americans (52%) who get paid vacation time say they won't use all their allotted time this year, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report.   Among those who get paid vacation time and won't use all of it, the most popular responses are: 7-10 days left over (30%), 4-6 days (21%) and 1-3 days (15%).  8% expect that they'll leave more than 30 days on the table.  The median is 7 days and the average is 19.  To view the survey results, go to:

www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/money-pulse-1216.aspx

59% of younger millennials (18-25 year-olds) won't use all of their company-provided time this year.  In fact, 25% say they'll use none of their paid vacation days for 2016, compared to only 9% of older millennials (age 26-35), 6% of Gen-Xers and 7% of Baby Boomers.

"This 'workaholic' approach is deeply embedded in our country's culture, but working more hours and sacrificing vacation days does not make you a better employee or help you climb the ladder any faster," said Sarah Berger, personal finance expert and "The Cashlorette" at Bankrate.com.  "Without taking time to recharge, employees can find themselves stressed, overworked and sick - all of which have a direct impact on their work performance."

Many companies offer employees the option of rolling over unused vacation time into the next calendar year which can be helpful to plan for an extended vacation or major life event.  It seems many are taking advantage of this perk, with 35% giving this reason for not using up all vacation days this year. Other reasons for not using vacation time include: too much work (23%), enjoy working (16%), can't afford to go anywhere (13%) and afraid your job will be at risk if you take too much time off (4%).

Given a choice between extra cash or additional paid time-off, cash wins out.  A majority of working Americans would prefer a cash bonus equal to 1 week of pay (56%) instead of an additional week of paid vacation each year (42%). This is fairly consistent across all age groups.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates on behalf of Bankrate.com.

About Bankrate.com

Bankrate.com provides consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life's financial journey. For over two decades, Bankrate.com has been a leading personal finance destination.  The company offers award-winning editorial content, competitive rate information, and calculators and tools across multiple categories, including mortgages, deposits, credit cards, retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of over 600 local markets, Bankrate generates rate tables in all 50 U.S. states. Bankrate develops and provides web services to more than 100 cobranded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the internet, such as Comcast, Yahoo!, CNBC and Bloomberg.  In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to more than 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.

For more information:
Kayleen (Katie) Yates
Vice President, Corporate Communications
kyates@bankrate.com 
(917) 368-8677

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SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.