Summer Vacation Not On The Itinerary For Many Americans This Year

American’s Simply Can’t Afford To Take A Summer Vacation Or Can’t Take The Time Off Work

by Heather Cassell

Memorial Day Weekend kicks off the summer vacation season, but many Americans won’t be takeing a trip this summer.

The reasons: They can’t afford to getaway or they are overloaded at work or at home with no relief in sight.

Carol Rose normally spends time at the beach, but she won’t be enjoying the sand between her toes or basking in the sun this year.

The 51-year-old public relations and content developer in Phoenix is an example of what’s ailing Americans from taking off and hitting the open road this year. Going through a divorce, recently returning to the workforce full-time in 17 years, and two children in college, she simply can’t afford it, she told Bankrate.

“It’s just not good timing,” Carol said. “[A vacation] won’t happen this summer.”

Carol isn’t alone. One-in-four Americans simply can’t afford to take a vacation, according to an online survey conducted by GfK Custom Research North America on its OmniWeb online omnibus for Bankrate, May 4 – 6.

Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent, don’t have any summer vacation plans, the financial advice website found in a survey conducted earlier this month.

Only 36 percent of respondents who get paid vacation days plan to use all of them this year. About 13 percent of workers with paid time off don’t intend to use any vacation days, according to the survey.

Cost was the biggest reason, cited by 24 percent of the 1,000 adults who participated in the survey.

The median budget respondents said they were considering spending for a summer vacation was $1,000. Millennials are most likely to spend that amount or less, according to Bankrate. Millennials older peers and parents are more likely to spend more than $2,000.

Residents of the Northeast can expect to spend more for their summer vacation. The median cost for folks in that region plan to spend this summer is $1,500.

Research shows that a vacation for a family of four on average costs more than $4,000.

Bankrate’s survey results are consistent with a similar poll taken by The Associated Press and the University of Chicago’s NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in May 2017, reported Forbes.

In that survey, 1,022 adult respondents revealed that 43 percent of Americans didn’t plan to take a vacation during summer 2017. Like Bakrate’s findings, the main reason respondents cited was the inability to afford to take a vacation.

Additionally, the survey concluded that workers who received paid vacation days were “lucky,” reported the business magazine. Forty-one percent of survey respondents who worked full- or part-time said they weren’t paid vacation time. Younger and lower-income workers are especially likely to not get any paid time off, according to the survey.

The Bankrate survey found that finances and work weren’t the biggest reason keeping older Americans from their summer vacation, family obligations were.

Millennials were feeling the time and money squeeze saying that they couldn’t go on vacation due to having too much on their plates and were more inclined to say that their financial situation was keeping them from getting away, according to Bankrate.

“There’s 6 million open and unfilled jobs in the economy right now because employers can’t find qualified workers,” McBride said. “A lot of existing employees are carrying a heavier load, and that might keep them tethered to the desk instead of taking the time off that they would otherwise like to take.”

The issue can partially be explained by low unemployment rates and sluggish wages that are starting to finally rise, but it’s still not keeping up with the cost of living. Many people are struggling to make ends meet.

“One in 4 Americans does not have any emergency savings,” said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. “Talk about living paycheck to paycheck.”

Americans are wasting their vacation time by not taking a vacation. Even when they have the paid time off people reported being reluctant to miss work.

“It’s important for Americans who have vacation time to use it, even if it’s for something as low-key as a staycation,” Bankrate.com analyst Amanda Dixon told Forbes. “Otherwise, it’s almost like you’re leaving money on the table. For those who feel like they can’t afford to take a vacation, get creative, and think outside the box. Don’t let those days go to waste. You earned them.”

Book your summer vacation with Girls That Roam Travel. Contact Heather Cassell at Girls That Roam Travel at 415-517-7239 or at .

To contract an original article, purchase reprints or become a media partner, contact .