Why do vacation days wither and die? The New York Times investigates.

Not that we celebrate finding more evidence of American overwork, but we have to admit feeling a small warm kernel of pride whenever we see this problem getting national media coverage.

Sunday's edition of The New York Times tackles one of the root causes of relaxation withdrawal: U.S. workers feel tacitly discouraged from using their vacation time.

Here's a link to the story, and here's a telling excerpt:

A worker may leave vacation time on the table for many reasons, but they generally boil down to a few: business pressures, particularly on senior executives; a reluctance to appear nonessential; a desire to be paid for unused vacation days down the road; and often, the feeling that one’s workplace is anti-vacation.

This just drives home our point that the vacation system is simply broken. America needs a Five Day Weekend. With our proposal, there's no vacation guilt. Everyone gets an appropriate amount of time off, and you don't have to sweat all the headaches of paid time off.

Rack up another win for the Five Day Weekend.

Got a news bit you'd like to share? E-mail us or just post a link in the comments section. Today's image is via BBC News, from a story about the death of pensions.