> They only have 5-10 days vacation a year on average.

Your figures are off by a large margin (70% to 240%). The average American worker took 17 days of vacation time in 2017.

For paid vacation time - the more important item - it depends heavily on experience and company size.

"In 2017, the average worker with five years of experience at a company was given 15 days of paid vacation and the average worker with 20 years of experience was given 20 paid vacation days."

"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 76 percent of private industry workers ... After one year of employment, these workers were granted 10 days of paid vacation, on average."

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/05/heres-how-many-paid-vacation...

That little holiday time still baffles me. I've taken 15 days off this year and we're barely nearing mid-summer. That's not including the 8 bank holidays we get. I've still got another 10 to use before the years end, not including days in lieu from working overtime, and this is only my first year of employment. I know that the US isn't great for workers rights, but regardless that's incredibly shocking to me.

If I was expected to work 50 weeks in a 52 week year I don't think I'd ever get a full-time career. I'd probably run off and become a surf bum selling loom bands on the beach.

"run off to become a surf bum"

You just summarized my career path after working as a software engineer for 10 years in SV.

15 days is still a laughable situation compared to all of western Europe.

If they take sick days do they come out of vacation time?

Most of the time yes.

Then they are not vacation!

They brought it upon themselves. Americans resist every attempt that I have seen to improve working conditions.

It was such a big issue for me that it motivated me to leave the SV tech community and the US altogether. I don't see myself ever living there again.

<sarcasm>Proper vacation time? That's communism!</sarcasm>

edit: added sarcasm tags