U.S. consumers display a peculiarity that has an important wellness twist: last year, 54% of American employees (who are all, by definition, consumers) did not take all the days off they were due, working a total of 662 million more days than they should have done.
The reluctance to take time off has two main consequences in terms of wellness/wellbeing: (1) it decreases the total amount of money that could be spent on wellness activities (wellness travel in particular); (2) it negatively impacts workers’ productivity.
The scientific evidence that taking vacation restores energy and reduces stress, hence improves productivity, is incontrovertible. To explain why they did not take their allotted vacation, 36% said they wanted to impress their bosses with their dedication. This doesn’t reflect a healthy working environment!
