AN ISSUE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATES
Once these cities do pass such legislation, I suspect the idea will take off elsewhere, as paid sick and family leave did. One thing that surprises me is that none of the current Democratic presidential candidates has spoken up for vacations, even though former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says it would be a winning issue, and different polls have shown at least two-thirds support for the idea.
Just before the 2016 elections, I participated in phone calls with Elizabeth Warren’s staff and other work-life balance advocates. The Massachusetts senator was planning to introduce a kind of omnibus paid-time-off bill that would have offered Americans 30 annual days of paid leave, including federal holidays, sick days and vacation time. She had good reason to believe that Hillary Clinton, if elected, would sign such a bill if Congress passed it. I was thrilled by the prospect and found the plan excellent. Workers could use the paid days as they chose, though of course, vacation days would have to be scheduled in advance with employers. It would go a long way to reduce stress and improve health in the US. Of course, Clinton lost and the idea seems to have been forgotten.
I am truly surprised that Senator Warren has not raised this issue in the debates, as I believe it will be extremely popular with voters, and especially, Democratic primary voters. It would also appeal to the working-class voters who voted for both Obama and Trump and are straining under long workweeks for modest pay. Our polling in 2009 showed especially strong support for vacation time among young voters, Hispanics and African Americans, key elements of the Democratic base. I think new polls would show the same.
CHANGE IN THE WIND
Meanwhile, as Americans continue to toil without respite, other good ideas are springing up. Jon Steinman, who once directed the Congressional Ethics Office, has begun a campaign for a four-day work week. Lest this seem utopian, readers should be reminded that the US Senate passed a thirty-hour workweek bill back in 1933. Thirty, not forty. Now, 86 years later, with five times the productivity we had then, a 32-hour week should be a slam dunk. It would add years to American lives, reduce health costs, increase happiness and cut greenhouse gas emissions (a factor demonstrated by studies in Sweden).
On another front, the US Public Interest Research (PIRG) groups, started by Ralph Nader in the 1970s, are looking at a campaign for changes in working time and quality of life. “Should the economy serve our needs or should we serve the supposed needs of the economy?” writes Evan Preston, Senior Director of New Economy Programs for US PIRG. “That is the profound question posed by Take Back Your Time and the movement of people asking whether we need to work so much. We enjoy abundance in America. Yet we remain locked into the logic that the only way to have better lives is to produce ever more stuff. Debating how much we should work is a worthwhile discussion to have as it focuses on how to improve wellbeing for more Americans.”
Let the debate begin again, starting with vacation time!
RESEARCH LINKS:
Take Back Your Time Organization
First Take Back Your Time Day Handbook
New York Times and Los Angeles Times Op-eds
Vacation matters, for both happiness and health
Study by Cathy McCarty of Wisconsin’s Marshfield Clinic
Florida representative Alan Grayson advocated a paid vacation law
Gael Tarleton offered a paid vacation bill to the Washington State legislature in 2014 and 2015
New York legislation providing two weeks of paid vacation to all NYC residents
Labor Secretary Robert Reich says it would be a winning issue
Jon Steinman has begun a campaign for a four-day work week
US Senate passed a thirty-hour workweek bill in 1933