As the school year begins, have the French really recharged their batteries? Ifop, on behalf of Fam’tastique, conducted a survey of 1,000 French people toanswer a simple question:Why are we so tired… even after vacation?
Are theFrench more tired than they were twenty years ago? Do vacations still really allow us to recharge? Which group—women or men—is more exhausted? Does having children change the picture? And above all, what’s really keeping us from taking a breather:the heat, lack of sleep, work, money, the kids… or all of the above?
We wanted to look beyond the simple “I’m tired” tounderstand who recovers and who doesn’t—and why. And the results paint a picture that’s sometimes surprising: for many French people,a few weeks of vacation are clearly not enough to reset the clock.
Key figures:
- 59% of French people have experienced persistent fatigue lasting one to several weeks over the past 12 months, compared to 47% in 2000—a 12-point increase. Having children under the age of 10 (75%) and being a woman with dependent children contribute to episodes of fatigue (81%).
- 54% of vacationers do not return from their vacations feeling more rested, and 11% even return feeling more tired. The longer the stay, the more restful it is: 37% reported feeling more rested after a few days away, compared to 57% for those who went away for two weeks.
- Nearly all vacationers (96%) cite a factor that prevented them from resting, notably the heat (85%) and poor sleep quality (67%), especially among parents of children under 10 (78%).
Find a complete analysis on the Fam’tastique website: Ifop Survey: Are Vacations Enough to Combat Fatigue?
