I cringe at the thought of hard working people not taking advantage of their earned vacation time but a recent Expedia.com survey reports that more than one third of American workers do not use their entitled time off. Of course, in this climate of economic uncertainty many people simply can't afford to go away but recent studies indicate that, in terms of of our health, as women we can't afford NOT to take a break from the rat race. Look at these sobering facts that appeared in the article, Breaking News: Many Workers Skimp on Vacation - and Pay the Costs (The New York Post).
- "Women who took vacations only once in two years were more likely to experience depression, tension, fatigue and marital dissatisfaction than women who took time off at least twice a year, according to a five-year study of 1,500 women by Cathy McCarty of the Marshfield Clinic."
- Women are twice as likely to have a heart attack - while men are a third more likely - if they don't take regular vacations, according to research by Elaine Eaker of the Framington Heart Study project."
- Women are more likely than men to feel guilty about taking time off from work (40 percent of women vs. 29 percent of men), according to Expedia's Vacation Deprivation Survey.
"The studies that are out there seem to point to a correlation between vacation and long-term physiological and psychological problem," says John de Graff of Take Back Your Time, a vacation and paid leave advocacy group." According to Take Back Your Time, working Americans average a little over 2 weeks vacation per year, while Europeans average five to six weeks.
Ladies, the prescription is simple - pack your little black dress and go!!!!
