Americans Forfeit $52 Billion a Year by Not Using Vacation Days

A new survey sheds light on just how much Americans are working. According to the U.S. Travel Association, Americans give up 4.9 days of paid vacation each year, amounting to some 169 million days, or $52.4 billion in yearly benefits. The report said if employees used vacation days like they did before 2000, the number of vacation days taken would rise 27 percent, pumping $284 billion into the economy. In fact, the survey suggests of those who leave 11 vacation days unused, 31% said they were “very” or “extremely” stressed, compared to just 25 percent of those who used all or most of their time off. TheStreet's Scott Gamm sat down with Gary Oster, managing director of Travel Effect.