Are Women Really Taking Time Off? The Truth About PTO, Caregiving and the Need for Rest
Women are using paid time off for vacations, personal needs and family responsibilities. But new research reveals a more complicated relationship between work, caregiving and the opportunity to truly disconnect.
When was the last time you took a day off and actually rested?
Not a day spent catching up on laundry, taking children to appointments, caring for a family member or responding to work emails between errands.
A day that was genuinely yours.
For many professional women, the distinction between taking time away from work and experiencing meaningful rest is an important one.
Paid time off, commonly known as PTO, is intended to provide employees with opportunities to recharge, manage personal responsibilities and step away from professional demands.
But how are women actually using those days?
Are they taking vacations? Are they saving their PTO for family emergencies? Are they reluctant to request time away from work? And when they finally use their days off, are they getting the rest they need?
Recent research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Pew Research Center provides some important answers.
The findings suggest that women are not necessarily avoiding time off. In fact, they are slightly more likely than men to take leave during a typical week.
The larger question is whether women have enough time, flexibility and support to use their leave in ways that benefit their own well-being.
The Numbers: Women Are Taking Time Off
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Access to and Use of Leave report, released August 26, 2026, women were more likely than men to take leave from work during an average week in the 2024–2025 study period.
The research found that 23% of women took paid or unpaid leave during an average week, compared with 20% of men.
Among those taking leave, women averaged 15 hours away from work, compared with 13.8 hours for men.
These findings challenge the assumption that women are simply not taking time away from their jobs.
However, the research also reveals that taking leave does not always mean taking a vacation.
Women use time off for several reasons, including their own medical needs, family caregiving, vacations and personal responsibilities.
The study also found that 69% of workers who took leave during an average week used paid leave exclusively.
Importantly, the weekly figures describe how often workers took leave during a representative week. They do not indicate how much of their annual PTO entitlement women used or how many vacation days they had remaining.
Still, the data provides an important starting point for understanding the relationship between women, work and time away.
What Are Women Actually Using Their Days Off For?
The same federal research provides a clearer picture of why women step away from work.
Among women who took leave during an average week, the reported reasons included:
- 41% took leave for vacation.
- 20% took leave for their own illness or medical care.
- 10% took leave because a family member was ill or needed medical care.
- 14% took leave for errands or personal reasons.
These figures are drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2024–2025 leave research. They represent reasons for taking paid or unpaid leave, not the percentage of annual PTO days spent on each activity.
One particularly interesting finding is that women who took leave were more likely than men to report vacation as their reason: 41% compared with 35%.
This is an important distinction.
Women are taking vacations. They are using time away from work for leisure and personal experiences.
But vacations are only one part of how women manage their time off.
Health needs, caregiving responsibilities and other obligations also compete for the same limited hours and days.
For women balancing professional responsibilities with personal and family needs, time away from work may serve several different purposes throughout the year.
The Caregiving Factor
One of the most significant differences between women and men involves caregiving.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that women who took leave were more likely than men to do so because a family member was ill or needed medical care.
Among leave-takers, 10% of women reported this reason, compared with 7% of men.
The difference may appear relatively small, but it reflects a broader pattern in how caregiving responsibilities are distributed.
The 2024 American Time Use Survey found that, among adults living with children under 18, women spent an average of approximately 1.79 hours per day providing childcare as their primary activity, compared with 1.11 hours for men.
These responsibilities can include physical care, educational support, transportation and attending children’s activities.
The demands do not disappear when a woman has a full-time job.
For working mothers, a day away from the office may involve pediatric appointments, school responsibilities or caring for a sick child.
Women may also be supporting aging parents, partners or other family members.
A paid day off can provide the flexibility necessary to meet those needs.
But using PTO to care for others is not necessarily equivalent to using PTO to recover from work.
A woman can be absent from her job and still be working throughout the day—just in a different capacity.
That distinction deserves greater recognition in conversations about workplace benefits and employee well-being.
Why Are So Many Workers Leaving PTO Unused?
While women are taking leave, another body of research shows that many American employees do not use all the paid time off available to them.
A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that 46% of U.S. workers with employer-provided PTO typically took less time off than they were offered.
Among workers who did not use all their available time, the reasons included concerns about falling behind at work, adding responsibilities to colleagues and not feeling the need for additional time away.
The research found that 49% of those leaving time unused worried about falling behind, while 43% felt badly about coworkers taking on additional work.
For women, the concern about burdening colleagues was especially notable.
Among workers who did not take all their available PTO, 48% of women said feeling badly about coworkers taking on additional responsibilities was a reason, compared with 39% of men.
Among workers ages 18 to 49, the difference was even more pronounced: 53% of women compared with 43% of men.
These findings suggest that workplace culture and personal expectations can influence how employees approach time away.
For women in leadership positions, there may also be concerns about stepping away from teams, projects and important decisions.
For entrepreneurs and business owners, the challenges can be different. Taking time off may require temporarily reducing operations, delegating responsibilities or accepting a potential loss of income.
The Pew survey focused on employees rather than self-employed workers, so its findings should not be assumed to describe entrepreneurs directly.
Nevertheless, the broader conversation about work, responsibility and personal boundaries is relevant to women across professional environments.
Sometimes Women Need Time Off and Still Don’t Take It
Perhaps one of the most revealing findings in the latest federal research concerns leave that workers needed but did not take.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, during an average month in 2024–2025, 10% of women experienced a situation in which they needed to take leave but did not.
For men, the figure was 7%.
The most common reason for needing leave among both groups was their own illness or medical care.
Across all workers who needed leave but did not take it, some reported having too much work, fearing employment consequences or being unable to afford the loss of income.
These findings highlight an important reality: Access to leave and the practical ability to use it are not always the same.
An employee may technically have paid time off available but feel unable to step away.
Another may have exhausted available leave because of earlier medical or family needs.
Someone working in a demanding position may struggle to find coverage for their responsibilities.
And workers without paid leave may face a difficult choice between meeting personal needs and maintaining their income.
For women, these challenges can be compounded by caregiving obligations and professional expectations.
Not Every Woman Has Access to Paid Time Off
Before discussing whether women use their PTO, it is important to recognize that not every working woman has access to it.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 69% of women wage and salary workers had access to paid leave in 2024–2025, compared with 73% of men.
That represents an improvement for women from 65% in 2017–2018, but it also means that a substantial share of working women did not have access to paid leave.
Access also varies by occupation, income and employment arrangement.
Workers in management, business and financial occupations were substantially more likely to have paid leave than those in many service-sector positions.
Full-time employees were also much more likely to have access than part-time workers.
These differences matter when discussing workplace wellness and the importance of taking time away.
Encouraging women to take vacations is meaningful only when they have the financial resources, available leave and workplace support necessary to do so.
For some women, the immediate priority is not planning a vacation.
It is obtaining the ability to take a paid day off when they or someone in their family needs care.
Are Women Getting Enough Rest?
The available research establishes how often women take leave and why, but it does not directly measure whether they feel rested afterward.
That distinction is important.
A vacation may provide relaxation, family connection, adventure or an opportunity to disconnect from professional responsibilities.
But a day spent handling appointments, household obligations or caregiving may leave little time for personal recovery.
The American Time Use Survey also shows how family responsibilities can affect opportunities for leisure.
In 2024, adults living in households with children under age six spent an average of 3.2 hours per day on leisure and sports activities, compared with 5.6 hours among adults living in households without children under 18.
These figures describe adults overall, not women specifically, but they illustrate how household circumstances can shape available leisure time.
The broader lesson is that the quality of time away matters alongside the quantity.
Rest can take different forms.
For some women, it means traveling to a new destination or spending time with friends.
For others, it means enjoying a quiet afternoon, exercising, reading, exploring a hobby or simply having time without a demanding schedule.
There is no single definition of meaningful rest.
What matters is having the opportunity to make intentional choices about how that time is spent.
What Employers and Business Leaders Can Do
Organizations have an opportunity to create workplace environments where employees feel supported in using their available leave.
That begins with recognizing that PTO is an important part of compensation and employee well-being.
Companies can encourage employees to schedule vacation time in advance, establish clear expectations around coverage and reduce the pressure to remain connected while away.
Managers also play an important role.
When leaders model healthy boundaries and use their own available time off, they can help establish a culture in which taking leave is viewed as a normal and responsible part of professional life.
Employers can also consider whether their leave policies adequately address the different needs of their workforce.
Vacation, personal illness, family caregiving and parental responsibilities do not always fit neatly into a single category.
Policies that provide clarity and flexibility can help employees manage those needs more effectively.
For businesses led by women, there is an opportunity to create organizations that recognize the realities of professional and personal responsibilities without compromising performance or accountability.
A healthy workplace should make it possible for employees to contribute meaningfully while also having time to manage their lives beyond work.
A Different Conversation About Women’s Time
At THIS IS IT NETWORK™, we believe conversations about professional success must also include personal well-being.
Women are building businesses, leading organizations, managing households, supporting communities and creating opportunities for others.
These contributions are meaningful.
But they should not require women to consistently place their own needs last.
The research shows that women take time away from work for many reasons.
They vacation. They care for family members. They manage personal responsibilities. They address their own medical needs.
And sometimes, even when they need time off, they do not take it.
The question is not simply whether women are using their PTO.
It is whether they have the freedom, support and resources to use their time in ways that reflect their needs and priorities.
For women leaders, executives and entrepreneurs, that may require more intentional planning, stronger boundaries and a willingness to recognize personal time as valuable.
It may also require employers and communities to reconsider how caregiving responsibilities are shared and supported.
Your Time Has Value, Too
The latest research offers an important reminder.
Women are not a single group with identical experiences.
Some have generous paid leave benefits and take regular vacations.
Others struggle to use the time they have.
Some use their days off for family responsibilities, while others prioritize travel, personal development or rest.
Many do all of these things at different stages of their lives.
What connects these experiences is the importance of having meaningful choices.
At THIS IS IT NETWORK™, our mission is to empower remarkable women to SCREAM YOUR DREAM™ through entertainment, events and education, fueled by content, community and connection.
We believe that building a successful career, business or personal brand should include creating a life that allows room for health, relationships, experiences and personal fulfillment.
Because professional achievement is important, but so is the ability to enjoy the life you are working so hard to build.
Women deserve more than days away from work. They deserve the opportunity to rest, recharge and spend their time on what matters most to them.
THIS IS IT NETWORK™ | Beyond Impressions. Into Impact.
Research and Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Access to and Use of Leave, 2024–2025, published August 26, 2026. Provides data on paid leave access, leave-taking by gender, reasons for taking leave and unmet leave needs.
- Pew Research Center — More Than 4 in 10 U.S. Workers Don’t Take All Their Paid Time Off, published August 10, 2023. Examines unused PTO and workers’ reasons for not taking it.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — American Time Use Survey, 2024 Results, published June 26, 2025. Documents how Americans allocate time to childcare, household responsibilities, leisure and other activities.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Daily Time Use in Households With Young Children in 2024, published July 2, 2025. Examines differences in leisure and caregiving time by household composition.
Editorial note: The research cited includes both paid and unpaid leave, depending on the study. Weekly leave-taking figures should not be interpreted as the percentage of annual PTO benefits used. The available data also does not establish how restful or restorative an individual’s time away was.
