Almost 200 years since his birth, it seems Charles Dickens got it right when he described what makes a joyous festive season in A Christmas Carol. The Cratchit family beats Scrooge hands down every time.
In a year when belt-tightening and financial pressures have dominated the headlines, Morrisons asked over 2,000 customers to predict how happy they expect Christmas 2011 to be in a rating between one and 10. The research* revealed that if you’re a 55 year old dinner lady living in Wales, of modest means and with family returning to the nest for the festive season, happiness awaits[1]. You’re also set for a merry Christmas if you’re a 39 year old teacher living in Yorkshire with two children at home on the big day, or a 30 year old bin man based in the North West with a full house of three kids.
In contrast, affluent, 45 year old, single, male CEOs are most likely to have an unhappy Christmas, with unmarried bosses from the East Midlands, Scotland and London particularly prone to the festive blues. Similarly 12% of singletons of both sexes will spend the day alone and not surprisingly predict an unhappy Christmas, opening just two or three gifts each. The 10% of Brits who pack their bags and spend the holidays away from the comforts of home also anticipate a less than happy festive season.
As a nation nine million adult Brits (26%) admit they’re dreading[2] Christmas 2011, with 40% believing this year has been tougher financially than last. Consequently 32% are spending less on Christmas 2011 than 2010. 14% of households will hit the plastic to pay for the festivities and are predicting a more unhappy Christmas than the 33% who plan to foot the bill from their salaries, and the quarter (24%) who’ll be dipping into savings. At least we’re not allowing debts to mount up next year, with over 80% of us saying that the cost of Christmas 2011 will be paid off by February 2012.
In spite of the nation’s financial woes, the vast majority of the population are determined to have fun regardless this Christmas, with almost three quarters (74%) predicting joy and laughter around the table on the big day, and the happiest Christmas hosts (23%) feeding nine people or more at dinner time. One in four households will exchange over 30 presents (25%) with one in ten lucky people set to receive 40 plus.
But no matter how joyful your home is set to be, the classic Christmas row is always a possibility. The research revealed that for almost a quarter of UK families (24%) this is most likely to happen between noon and 2pm - with the key cause being the cooking (29%), closely followed by an ‘annoying relative’ (19%). Thankfully peace and tranquility sweep across the country after two, the ‘happiest’ time of the day, that just happens to coincide with the moment most people sit down to tuck into the turkey – our favourite (22%) part of Christmas dinner.
Psychologist and author of Affluenza, Oliver James commented: “The last 30 years turned us into ‘shop till you drop’, credit-fuelled consumer junkies. This survey from Morrisons is hard evidence that we are kicking the materialistic ‘affluenza’ virus of placing too high a value on money, possessions and appearances. If people concentrate on only spending money on items they really need rather than false wants then they will have a much more satisfying, harmonious and less expensive Christmas.”
Published 21/12/2011