It’s nearly the end of the year, and a lot of people at work still haven’t taken off all their designated holiday time. A study by hotel chain Jury's Inn has found 82% of us are yet to use up all of our annual leave, and a third of us still have ten days left to take. That's two whole weeks, fact fans.
A quick straw poll of the office reveals that most of us are still trying to work out how to eek out those last few days of holiday before the end of the year, but when did we get so bad at taking time off? For one thing, going abroad on a proper holiday feels really pricey now - one study found that the cost of travelling to Europe has increased by 35% thanks to Brexit. You could always travel further afield, but a long-haul flight is hardly a cheap option, and if you've only got three or four days to to use up, it's hardly a feasible option.
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And as well as holidays geting pricier, as the cost living shoots up, especially in London, we're left with less and less desposible income. According to one report from last year,the average tenant in London under 30 spends 57% of their income on rent, which is not just a statistic for most of us, but a harsh reality. With the average one room apartment going for £1,133 in 2016, it’s hard for much leftover money to fund any dreams of trips we have.
And then there's that other, fairly grim, reason why we all find it so difficult to take the holiday that's owed to us - we don't think we can. It's estimated that mental health issues costs up to 300,000 jobs a year, and with wages stagnant, the cost of living stagnant, and the rise and rise of the zer0-hour contract, we're all under more pressure in the workplace than ever. Taking a couple of days off to Netflix And Chill simply doesn't feel feasible when you're under that sort of pressure.
The solution? Obviously we're going to tell you to take all the annual leave that's available to you. And if you really can't take it all because your work load is too great, you need to make this clear to your boss. But taking holiday time and chilling out properly is an effort in itself, and the earlier you organise it and factor into your year, the more likely you'll be to actually enjoy it when it does come around.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.