Nearly 1 million people in Bulgaria cannot afford even a week’s vacation. This was announced by KNSB, referring to an analysis by the European Trade Union Institute of the European Confederation of Trade Unions.
The figures show that a total of 40 million workers, or 15% of all in the EU, cannot afford a week’s holiday away from home – in their own country or abroad. Their number has increased by nearly 2 million in one year.
The analysis shows that Bulgaria is also on the list of countries with the largest increase in the number of people for whom vacation is a luxury. According to the data, in 2022, for over 957,000 working Bulgarians, a one-week holiday is a mirage.
Compared to the previous year, their increase is over 2%.
The biggest increase in so-called holiday poverty was reported in France, with 2.5% or almost 1,000,000 more workers forced to stay at home. Among the countries with the largest share of workers who cannot afford a holiday are also Romania – one in three, Cyprus and Greece – one in four.
The European Trade Union Confederation has predicted that the figures for 2023 could be even worse after last summer’s record rise in holiday prices combined with real wages falling across the Union last year due to inflation. And they stress that collective bargaining not only provides fairer pay, but workers who are covered by it enjoy up to two more weeks of vacation each year.
The adopted Minimum Wage Directive requires all Member States to ensure that at least 80% of workers are covered by collective agreements. The deadline for introducing the Directive into national legislation is November 15.
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