The summer vacation trap: parents reach the summer without vacation days

For hundreds of thousands of families, the months of July and August are not just a time for the beach, popsicles, and family outings, but primarily a tiring logistical and economic survival test. While children go on a long vacation of almost two months, the Israeli labor market continues to operate as usual — and the deep gap between the education system's calendar and the economy's demands puts parents in an impossible daily trap.

A new survey conducted by the research department of the AllJobs website among parents of children up to age 15 paints a difficult picture of the Israeli summer and illustrates the scale of the burnout. The most disturbing finding in the survey shows that 39% of parents reached the summer vacation period without a single day of vacation available in their accrual. This shortage is not just a technical problem or a negligible clause in a contract, but a matter with direct and painful economic consequences: for 43% of parents, every additional vacation day they have to take beyond their quota will be translated directly into a reduction in salary — a heavy burden, especially in days of rising cost of living and inflated summer expenses. Some parents save the few remaining days for the autumn holidays or emergencies, others have already used them during the year for children's illnesses or previous vacations, and are now forced to find creative solutions out of nothing.

Regarding planning and actions on the ground, 17% of survey respondents indicated that they plan to use over 10 vacation days during the summer, 23% will use between 5 and 10 days, and 25% will settle for only 1 to 5 vacation days. On the other hand, 35% of parents noted that they will not use vacation days at all — most of them simply because they have no days to use or because they cannot afford a hit to their monthly income.

Alongside this, the survey found an interesting and distinct gender gap regarding the balance of vacation days available to employees. Almost half of working men (45%) reached the summer period with no available vacation days at all, compared to 35% of women. On the other hand, 29% of women had over 10 available vacation days left to use, compared to only 10% of men. This gap may indicate different patterns of vacation usage throughout the work year, the nature of the roles, or differences in the scope of positions between men and women in the Israeli economy.

However, organizational and physical solutions for parents do not always exist on the ground. 57% of parents testified that their workplace does not go on a collective shutdown at all in the months of July-August, which forces them to find proactive and individual solutions. Only 17% work in organizations that implement a collective shutdown that organizes the schedule, while 26% admit that they do not know at all if such a move is planned by their employer. Flexibility within the office walls is also very limited: 60% of parents replied that there is a total ban on bringing children to the workplace during the vacation. Only 28% indicated that they can do so freely whenever needed, and 12% said that the option exists only on designated and centralized days that the employer organizes for the entire organization. By necessity, 21% of parents rely closely on the help of grandparents to get through the open days on the calendar.

Nevertheless, there are employers who understand the complexity of the event and show greater flexibility towards their employees: 36% allow exceeding the vacation day quota with special approval without a salary reduction, 20% allow working part of the time from home to combine childcare with work, and 15% allow employees to miss days without recording it as a declared vacation day on the attendance form.

"The summer vacation entails high costs that parents pay every year, not only in money but also in vacation days," says Liat Ben Tora Shoshan, VP of Career and Placement at AllJobs. "Vacation days are not just another technical clause in the employment contract, but a significant management tool, allowing for a healthy balance between work and private life and in long-term career management. Flexible and hybrid work is no longer a 'benefit' granted to employees, but a condition that has become an integral part of the psychological contract between the employee and the employer. Especially during the summer period, when working parents are required to maneuver between job requirements and family obligations, employers who allow flexibility in working hours or remote work gain more committed employees, who continue to meet goals even in challenging periods."