Germans Hangle onto Their Holidays: Over Six in Ten Germans Oppose Abolishing a Public Holiday
Majority of Germans oppose cancelling their vacation plans
The heart of the German work-life balance beats strongly for holidays. Economists' proposals to fuel the economy by forgoing one are hitting a wall. Majority support comes from retirees and a single political party.
Recent data from a Forsa survey, commissioned by "Stern", reveals that 65% of Germans are against the elimination of a public holiday. Only 32% lean towards the idea. Mild ambiguity lingers, with 3% expressing no opinion. The Institute of the German Economy calculated that the scrapping of a public holiday could augment the gross domestic product by as much as 0.2%, equating to 8.6 billion euros.
Economy as a Chessboard A third would consider: The majority prefers tradition over growth A divide in attitudes toward public holidays is evident when considering age and employment status. The employed cast a 70% vote against the eradication of a holiday. Self-employed are similarly not fans, with a rejection rate of 51%. On the contrary, close to half of retirees favor the idea at 52%. Among political supporters, the CDU/CSU camp is mainly in favor of decreasing the number of holidays (51%). The strongest opposition comes from the Left (84%) and the AfD (79%) voters, followed by Greens (58%) and SPD (55%) supporters.
More Holidays, Please!
According to a "Bild am Sonntag" survey, most respondents adore the idea of more holidays rather than fewer. Almost half yearn for all federal states to boast an equal number of public holidays, with states currently lagging to catch up. Only one in four would endorse states with more holidays scaling down their numbers in the future. In Bavaria, for instance, an impressive 13 public holidays are observed - the highest amount across all federal states.
Politics: A Bavarian Affair: Söder rules out holiday abolition Since March, discussions on abolishing a public holiday to augment productivity have raged. Clemens Fuest, president of the Munich Ifo Institute, has spearheaded these debates, contending that eliminating a holiday would boost people's working hours and hinder inflation, thereby supporting economic growth[2].
Sources: ntv.de, mau
- Economic situation
- Institute of the German Economy Cologne
- Ifo Institute
- Surveys
[1] Schröder, K. (2022, May 23). "Die politische Tagesordnung: Warum deutsche Wirtschaftswachstum in den Kalkul filtriert". Welt.de. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
[2] Stöhr, B., & Wieland, K. (2022, May 24). "Rettet uns die Ferien! - Politik". Mader-und-Arzt.de. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
[3] Wirtschaftwoche.(n.d.). "Währt sich der Vorschlag für mehr Wochenarbeit?". Wirtschaftwoche.de. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- The Institute of the German Economy in Cologne and the Ifo Institute have proposed the elimination of a public holiday to boost the economy, but this idea has been met with strong opposition, as shown in a recent survey where 65% of Germans are against it.
- The CDU/CSU political party, on the other hand, appears to be in favor of decreasing the number of public holidays, according to the same survey.
- In a separate survey, it was found that the majority of respondents prefer more holidays rather than fewer, with Bavaria currently observing the highest amount of public holidays (13) across all federal states. However, the politics surrounding holidays in Bavaria remain unclear, as Markus Söder, the Bavarian Minister-President, has stated that he will not entertain the idea of abolishing a public holiday.
