It sounds great, you will receive your holiday money in May and you will book a wonderful well-deserved holiday to Thailand. Unfortunately, that kite does not work for many Dutch people.
Nearly half of the Dutch cannot fully pay for their holiday from their holiday allowance. 60% of them therefore supplement their holiday pay with money from their savings account. This is evident from research by online financial service provider MoneYou.
The holiday money is really used by most Dutch people for holidays. 46% use the money directly for the summer holidays and 13% for a holiday outside the summer. Although 35% initially put it separately in a savings account, a third of them consciously save the money for a holiday in the future.
Amount of holiday allowance not known to everyone
More than one in five Dutch people indicate that they do not know how much their gross holiday allowance is. Among women, it is even one in four. It is striking that men state twice as often as women that their holiday pay is more than a gross monthly salary. Also striking: 11% of the Dutch say they will not receive any holiday pay this year. It is legally established that all people with work or benefits receive the annual bonus.
Holiday money: rather everything in one go
Of the respondents who do receive holiday pay, 74% receive it in May and 16% in June. When asked if people would rather receive a little extra salary every month instead of everything in one go, 93% say they don't like this. Getting the whole amount in one go remains the most popular. Preferably in May. Only one in ten Dutch people prefer to receive the holiday pay in another month. Last year, a quarter of all Dutch people indicated that they would prefer to receive holiday pay in another month, preferably in December.
Families vs singles
Families with children in particular use the holiday allowance for the summer holidays, namely 62%. This percentage is considerably lower among singles. 28% of them spend the money on the summer holidays, because they are less bound to the summer holidays than families. Singles primarily put the money in a savings account, especially to cover unforeseen expenses. Singles also prefer to receive holiday pay in December (27%) or April (21%).
Top five holiday money destinations
- Summer vacation (46%)
- Saving for specific purpose (35%)
- Apple for the thirst (25%)
- Vacation outside summer (13%)
- Major expenses (11%)
I personally even think that many Dutch people spend the holiday money they receive in May on paying off debts incurred or paying overdue bills, nothing is mentioned about that at all. There are plenty of Dutch people who can barely make ends meet, let alone money for a holiday to Thailand.
Kind regards from Pattaya, Thailand.