The crossover between Juillettists and Augustans sometimes makes you forget that not everyone goes on vacation, even if only for a week, for lack of financial means. In France, 3.6 million people would be in this case, according to a survey published Monday by the European Trade Union Confederation. The organization, which relies on Eurostat data, estimates that across the European Union 35 million people cannot afford a vacation. Among families living below the poverty line (defined by an income below 60% of the median income), almost two-thirds (59.5%) cannot afford to take a week's leave outside their home . This proportion is highest in Greece (88.9%) followed by Romania (86.8%) and Croatia (84.7%). In France,57% of modest households do not leave.
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Looking at the absolute numbers, Italy has the most people unable to afford a vacation (7 million), ahead of Spain (4.7 million) and Germany (4.3 million).
The confederation underlines that among the population earning less than 60% of the median income there are certainly retirees and the unemployed, but also
"millions of low-paid workers",
often at the legal minimum wage.
Inequality
If, over the years, access to holidays has improved overall, the study finds that over the last decade inequalities with regard to holidays have widened in sixteen of the 27 EU countries, including France, to a lesser extent than in the Netherlands or Romania. The opportunity for Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary of the Trade Union Confederation, to plead for an increase in the minimum wage in the Union so that vacations are no longer
"a luxury for a few".