Holiday pay needed to make ends meet for 1.5 million Dutch

Around 1.5 million residents use their holiday pay to cover basic living expenses, research by consultancy firms PwC and Q&A showed, De Telegraaf reported. Earlier research showed that one in five employees might not receive annual vacation pay this month due to their employer facing financial troubles. That is twice as many as last year.

Holiday pay in the Netherlands is equivalent to at least eight percent of the gross salary for the past year and is normally given out in May. According to CNV chair Piet Fortuin, many Dutch families usually spend more of it on bare necessities rather than leisure.

The new research from PwC also showed that 13 percent of planned to use the holiday pay to repay a portion of their debts, and fewer than half will spend the holiday allowance primarily on vacations or going out.

Their research also showed that a large part of the 30 billion euros holiday pay due this month would be spent in the Netherlands. Amusement parks, zoos, and museums were the most popular choices for those who said they planned to use the money for day trips.

Some 40% of polled Dutch residents said they were considering using the money to go on holiday in one of the countries in Europe. A very small number of people surveyed indicated they were considering taking a long-haul flight to a holiday destination outside of Europe. Some travelers who feared their holiday plans could be hindered by the pandemic said they would in that case transfer the benefit to their savings account.

Seven percent also said they were looking into cryptocurrency investments as a good use of their holiday pay.