You work hard to earn vacation days, but when the time comes to enjoy them, a new study says American workers aren’t using up all the time off they’ve earned for the year.

A study by travel site Expedia (via the L.A. Times) says the average worker is expecting to earn less days off in 2011, down to 14 from 15, but will only take 12 days vacation.

The study polled 7,803 workers in 20 countries, and found that the main factor that we’re worried about is spending money on said vacations. A total of 34% of Americans polled said they didn’t think they could afford to go on vacation.

The French know how to relax, however, and they get the time to do it using all 30 (yes, 30) days of vacation in 2011. One moment, please, while we froth at the mouth with envy.

Japanese workers, on the other hand, only earn 11 days and will use a paltry five of those.

We hate to use the word that combines vacation and staying at home, so we won’t. But for your own sanity, don’t waste those precious vacation days — just sit on the couch, catch up on your DVR and eat gigantic bowls of cereal.

Americans get less vacation, still don’t use it all, study finds [L.A. Times]

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