The Future of Work Requires Getting the Basics Right

As Independence Day weekend approaches, nearly 4 in 5 Americans report they’re planning to take a vacation this summer–even as inflation and soaring fuel prices have pushed budgets to the brink. Making it even more unaffordable? Americans’ lack of paid vacation time.

According to the Department of Labor, roughly 25 million private sector workers in the US don’t get even a single day of paid vacation. In the rest of the world, this would be unheard of: our new data reveals that as of 2026, the US is one of just 9 countries in the world without any national-level paid annual leave–joined only by Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and six small island nations.

Not only does nearly every other country provide paid vacation time, but most grant quite a bit: 55% of countries around the world, spanning every region and economies of all sizes, guarantee at least 20 days of paid vacation each year. Moreover, paid annual leave isn’t the only area of workers’ rights where the US is lagging behind. It’s also one of just 21 countries with no guarantee of weekly rest.

These gaps matter to health. When workers get insufficient time off work, injuries and accidents increase. Meanwhile, studies from across countries have found that when workers have and use paid vacation time, they report improvements in their physical and mental health, sleep, and life satisfaction. For example, one study found a 29% decrease in women’s odds of depression for each 10 days of paid vacation time. Another showed that middle-age men at risk of heart disease face lower mortality rates when they take an annual vacation.

In the US, burnout has reached a seven-year high, and three in four Americans report moderate to very high stress at work. Among workers who do have paid time off, a growing share are using it just to catch up on sleep. What’s more, the workers most likely to lack paid vacation days are those working in some of the most physically demanding occupations. For example, less than half of accommodation and food services workers–who are on their feet for nearly their entire work day–have any paid vacation time.

Paid vacation leave also matters to whether families can balance work with everything else in their lives. Aside from taking trips, Americans use paid vacation days to manage family emergencies, to move into a new home or undertake major repairs, and to fill childcare gaps. These needs can be especially acute in the summer as families scramble to meet care needs when schools are closed (and notably, summer school closures are longer in the US than many other countries). When paid time off is unavailable, meeting these basic needs and coping with the unexpected becomes even harder—and lower-income families are disproportionately affected. Among workers in the bottom tenth of the income distribution, just 43% have any paid vacation time, compared to 95% in the top tenth.

To be sure, providing paid vacation to all Americans—let’s say two weeks, as a start—would require investment. But it would also yield economic returns. Paid time off reduces absenteeism and boosts morale, which in turn lowers turnover and the high associated costs for employers. The health benefits of paid vacation—including the mental health benefits—could also yield huge dividends, with one study finding that the effects on depression alone could boost GDP by $2.94 billion per year.

Paid vacation time isn’t a luxury—it’s a basic benefit that 95% of the world’s countries have figured out how to provide. As AI begins to reshape the economy, a range of bold solutions—from an AI dividend to guaranteed income to a four-day work week—have surfaced to address the potential fallout for workers. Exploring these ideas is critical—but we also need to get the basics right. In failing to recognize paid annual leave and weekly rest as the fundamental labor rights they are, the US is jeopardizing the health of millions and undercutting Americans’ ability to live full and balanced lives.

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