# Would you rather have more salary, or more vacation time? (a cross-cultural poll) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467 "2006-05-12T02:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/21 "2006-05-12T12:59:59Z")
I would definitely go for more vacation time. I envy the European plans. I want the ability to take a 2 week vacations and still attend school functions. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/22 "2006-05-12T13:03:51Z")
With 2 kids young enough that they can’t be home alone unsupervised for an entire day, definitely vacation time. In fact that’s the situation I’m in now - I nominally get 4 weeks a year of vacation time due to my longevity, but we have billable-hours goals which cannot be met, with my vacation time allowance, without working consistent uncompensated overtime. If we don’t meet those goals, we’re ranked lower for the pool of raise-money at the end of the year, leading to low-to-no raises. Back when we were DINKs, we didn’t do that much travelling and could take care of household stuff on weekends with the occasional hour or two off during the week. Back then, money would be preferred. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/23 "2006-05-12T13:06:03Z")
I already made this choice once. Mind you, I didn’t lack vacation time by comparison with previously posting american dopers. 5 weeks + 4 days of vacations, plus national holidays, amounting probably on average to the equivalent of 7 weeks total. 37 hours and a half of work/ week. But I eventually found out I didn’t have enough free time and didn’t need that much money. So, having this opportunity, I choose to work only 80% time (4 days/week, fridays off). It was a very significant change. Much more than I expected. Previously, the week-end “psychologically” lasted only one day. Saturday was fine, but on sunday, I felt it was the end of it, thought “I go back to work tomorrow”, and it didn’t feel like a real day off. After, it was the contrary : the work week “psychologically” only lasted three days : monday, tuesday wednesday. On thursday, I knew it was the end of it, and it didn’t feel like a real work day. Sundays were real day off again because I felt like not working was the norm and working the exception. Well worth it. And as for moving to say, the US and have only two weeks of vacations… You musty be joking, right? Nearly unconceivable. I assume I could do that for a brief time (say a couple years, maybe three) and even then you would have to offer me a ludicrously high raise. Probably propose to me three times what I make or more. The intent would be then to put the extra money aside, for… say, taking a sabbatical at the end of the 2-3 years! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/24 "2006-05-12T13:23:28Z")
Money, definitely. With our latest union contract, I’m up to five weeks vacation, 10 personal days and six sick days. Add in the fact that I have the option of working summer flex-hours (giving me another eight days off) and that I telecommute, and I’m doing fine timewise. I’d prefer some money that I can use to enjoy all that free time. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/25 "2006-05-12T13:27:59Z")
I don’t even like taking days off, so I’ll go for the cash. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/26 "2006-05-12T13:44:17Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > And as for moving to say, the US and have only two weeks of vacations… You musty be joking, right? Nearly unconceivable. Same here. If I were so poor that I couldn’t pay my bills then I can see how you choose the money. As long as I’m living more or less comfortably, what is the extra money good for if I have no time to spend it? Sure, I could pat myself on the back because I’m so hard-working - as if that were something desirable in itself. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/27 "2006-05-12T14:01:52Z")
> [@kellner](#): > > Sure, I could pat myself on the back because I’m so hard-working - as if that were something desirable in itself. No kidding. I feel that my job is bs and could be done in half the time. Vacation time, definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/28 "2006-05-12T14:09:32Z")
We only get 12 vacation days a year and no sick days (literally, _no sick days_), but I would still go for more money. I haven’t gone on a “vacation” since 2000, and am not likely to in the future. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/29 "2006-05-12T14:29:52Z")
More vacation time, as long as it’s paired with a better working environment. I’ve worked at a tiny newspaper in RI, a non-profit in RI, a huge corporate bank in NYC and I’m now at a community college in FL. My current job is definitely the best in terms of a balance between salary (not great), working environment (very relaxed and supportive) and benefits (quite good). I get 38 vacation/holiday/personal days a year, plus sick days. I always use all my paid time off (and none of my sick days). I never want to go back to corporate. Probably wouldn’t go to another country, either. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/30 "2006-05-12T15:02:39Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I get four weeks’ annual leave a year, plus the ten or so public holidays. That’s pretty generous already, so I’d probably go for more money. I get something similar here in the UK (a bit more actually what with Northern Irish only holidays and the university closing for longer over christmas and easter) so I’m definately looking for more money. ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/31 "2006-05-12T15:05:18Z")
I made this choice a couple of years ago - I went with more time off. In my specific case it was more a career path branching than anything, but I chose less money and a work life that reliably ends at 5:15 and has weekends off with set vacation time that’s actually vacation time over more money, permanent on-call status. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/32 "2006-05-12T15:07:40Z")
I’ve got more free time (if not actual vacation) than **Jodi** and **1920s Style “Death Ray”** put together, and I’d still go for more vacation. I have enough money as it is and I’ve never been able to understand the motivation to get more than enough of it. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/33 "2006-05-12T15:08:02Z")
> [@Eva Luna](#): > > How many of you occasionally yearn for the other side of the work/life balance fence? Where do you live/work? Have you ever lived/worked anywhere else besides where you are now? What kind of tradeoffs would you find attractive (and not so attractive) about working in a different labor market than the one where you are now? Would you ever seriously consider picking up and moving to another country for work opportunities? I didn’t answer any of this before. I live and work in Australia and have also lived and worked in New Zealand. I’d move to any part of the worl for my job provided the conditions were suitable. The further from my true home I am (New Zealand,) the better I’d want to be paid. The labour market I work in (flight crew) is global, so without moving into a different line of work I can’t really get into a different market. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/34 "2006-05-12T15:13:52Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > I have enough money as it is and I’ve never been able to understand the motivation to get more than enough of it. Define “enough” :). I have interests that could suck up several millions of dollars initially and then cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to keep up. Luckily for me they can also both be indulged at a lower level with very limited funds. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/35 "2006-05-12T15:17:02Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > Define “enough” :). So much that I can’t remember the last time I couldn’t do something I felt like doing due to lack of funds. Of course, some of it comes from growing up under modest circumstances. Catching the morning flight to Australia and check out the fanciest hotels I could find in Sydney would indeed be beyond my means, but doing that doesn’t occur to me. Anything I feel like doing and would think of doing, I can do. That is enough. ---
**Author:** ![LampMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@LampMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LampMan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/36 "2006-05-12T15:28:31Z")
More vacation days. Currently I get 5 days per year, plus 4 holidays (New Years, 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas), and no sick allowances. Europeans and Australians who get a month off have it made… health care too which I’d like as well. America, best country in the world? Yeah, right. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/37 "2006-05-12T15:35:29Z")
I get five weeks off recreation leave (vacation) per annum, I get three months’ “long service leave” every ten years (I can take it in bits as I feel like), a few public holidays, a “moving house day” once per year, and a couple of other bits and pieces. But my pay is shit\*. Gimme the money. \*I have the option of ‘cashing in’ my fifth week of vacation for money each year. I and most of my workmates choose to do this. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/38 "2006-05-12T15:36:42Z")
And ten days’ sick leave, and three days’ compassionate leave (funerals, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/39 "2006-05-12T15:41:37Z")
My previous job had three weeks vacation. That was pretty good. Currently, I’m a freelancer, so technically I get no vacation/sick time. On the other hand, I choose to work only 4 days a week, because of union weirdness that means I take home less than $50 if I work 5 days a week. And I still book time off here and there as necessary, so I can take a 5 or 6 day trip and only miss a day or two if I schedule it right. If I was a staffer, I’d get two weeks vacation, but would be banned from taking time off during sweeps (a co-worker was reprimanded this week on taking a half day to go a funeral), and wouldn’t have a choice about working on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467/40 "2006-05-12T15:55:53Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > So much that I can’t remember the last time I couldn’t do something I felt like doing due to lack of funds. > > Of course, some of it comes from growing up under modest circumstances. Catching the morning flight to Australia and check out the fanciest hotels I could find in Sydney would indeed be beyond my means, but doing that doesn’t occur to me. Anything I feel like doing and would think of doing, I can do. That is enough. Understood. My comment was aimed more at your wondering about people who are motivated to get more than enough. For _some_ of them, it’s just that their “enough” is a lot more than yours. For others who are trully wealthy (Bill Gates for example), I’m not sure what it is, I think many people at that stage are achieving for the sake of achieving and the money has not been a factor for a long time. There are those who seem to like watching the numbers grow though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-more-salary-or-more-vacation-time-a-cross-cultural-poll/356467.md?page=3)