site.btaNearly One-Fourth of Working Bulgarians Cannot Afford One-Week Holiday - European Trade Union Institute

A total of 24% of working Bulgarians cannot afford to take a one-week holiday, according to 2023 Eurostat data analyzed by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and published by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) said on its website Saturday.

The findings highlight a troubling trend across the European Union, where holidays are becoming a luxury for people in employment.

The analysis shows that the number of workers in Bulgaria who are unable to afford a holiday increased by more than 34,000, or 3.8%, in 2023 compared to 2022.

The number of people who cannot afford a week’s holiday despite being in work has risen again by over a million in a single year, showing the European Union is in a job quality emergency and needs to rebuild its social contract through collective bargaining, the ETUC said.

ETUI's analysis of the latest Eurostat microdata, which are not publicly available, found a summer break was beyond the means of 41.5 million people in 2023 – up from 40.5 million in 2022. Romania tops the list with nearly 4 million workers, followed by Hungary, Portugal, and Greece. Bulgaria ranks fourth, with 945,717 working people affected.

It is the third consecutive annual rise in holiday poverty and means that 15% of all working people in Europe are now missing out on time away with their families - while CEOs, who now earn more than 100 times the average worker, sun themselves in luxury resorts, the analysis reads. 

“Taking a break with family or friends is important for our physical and mental health, and it is a basic part of the European social contract. After working hard all year, it is the least working people should be able to expect to afford and should not be allowed to become a luxury for the few. However, these figures show that Europe has a quality jobs emergency and that our social contract is continuing to crumble as the result of growing economic inequality. It is sadly no surprise that more people can’t afford a holiday when, at the same time, dividends increased up to 13 times more quickly than people’s pay packets and CEOs paid themselves over 100 times more than the average worker,” ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said.

The European Trade Union Confederation calls on national governments to fully implement the Minimum Wage Directive and for the European Commission to ensure the Quality Job Package due this year includes legislation to rebalance the economy, the analysis says.