Summer is reflexively associated with vacation away from home, right? Well, not for 28% of EU Europeans in 2018, according to new Eurostat data.

Slightly more than one in four EU residents can afford one holiday a year “away from their homes.” Romanians are at the bottom of the pack, while the Swedes are out in front with the most holiday across the border. In Germany, the statistic for those unable to make it abroad annually was 14.5%, half the European average.

In just about every country, single parents with one or more kids find such a break is unaffordable: 44% EU-wide.

The countrymen worst affected were, after Romania (59%), Croatia, Greece and Cyprus – all roughly equal at 51%. Perhaps surprisingly, Italy landed in fifth place among those hardest hit. When applied to single parent families, the numbers jumped: nearly three-quarters of such families in Cyprus and two-thirds in Hungary couldn’t escape for a week’s holiday. Another shocker: 57% of UK solo parents found themselves in this situation.

As for the most likely to find themselves abroad in the summer, citizens of Luxembourg, Austria and Denmark followed those of Sweden.  The Dutch and the Germans were close behind.

Although these results speak of inequality within the EU and the difficult circumstances of  single parents everywhere in Europe, the numbers were an improvement over 2017, when 30% couldn’t manage a week away and 37% in 2010.