Reader Comments (0)

Rating (0):

U.S. Workers Plan To Use Vacation Time, Cut Back on Vacation Spending

Sept. 4, 2009 — More than half of U.S. workers plan to use all of their paid time off but are cutting back on vacation spending and less than half of Americans are financially prepared to deal with a loss of income due to unplanned absences, according to new research.

The Hartford Financial Services Group’s Second Annual Time-Off Survey found that 56% of U.S. workers plan to use all of their time off from work, an increase of 8% over last year’s survey results. But, when asked what they were most likely to postpone given the state of the economy, 67% of survey participants said their vacation.

“Employees said they value the paid time-off that they receive from their employers, but they continue to be worried about their income and expenses. And as a result, they plan to cut back on vacation spending. This could be the year of the so-called staycation,” said Marjorie Savage, absence management director in The Hartford’s Group Benefits Division. “We encourage workers to take steps to protect their physical and financial health, such as taking time to relax, as well as protecting their income. Income protection can provide peace of mind that’s even more important during these stressful economic times.”

Survey respondents indicated what gives them the most stress:

• financial concerns – 55%
• the U.S. economy – 42%
• fear of losing their job – 27%.

“We’re seeing work issues take a backseat to people focused on keeping a steady income,” Savage said. “And our attention has broadened from gasoline prices – the No. 2 stressor last summer – to our country’s economy overall.”

When asked how the economy has affected their job concerns:

• 36% said they are worried about layoffs, a 14% increase over last year’s survey
• While every age group had increased concerns about their job, Gen Y (ages 18-29) appears to be worried the most.
• Fear of losing one’s job registered across all generations and genders, but Gen X (ages 30-44) and Gen Y had the biggest increases in 2009 results.

“Gen Y is also the only generation that said they plan to take less time off from work this year, while both Gen X and Boomers said they will take more,” Savage said. “This is the first time that Generation Y has experienced these types of economic and career issues. They are concerned about their job security and are addressing their layoff concerns by staying in the workplace more this year.”  

Regarding unplanned absences, 97% of respondents said they would have to change their lifestyle to meet expenses if they lost part of their family’s income for three to six months, but only 41% said they had short-term disability insurance and just 36% said they had long-term disability insurance.

“Our survey found that women, particularly single moms, would be hardest hit if they didn’t get a paycheck for three to six months. Women also reported worrying more about finances,” Savage said.

About the Survey
The survey, conducted by Opinauri in April 2009, was conducted online and polled 1,019 U.S. adults age 18-64. The survey has a margin of error of 3.5%. The generational breakdown of survey participants was 283 Gen Y workers, 290 Gen X, and 446 Boomers (ages 45-65).

Contents © 2009 WorldatWork. No part of this article may be reproduced, excerpted or redistributed in any form without express written permission from WorldatWork.