One in five Brits plan to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee but most want to have a ‘relaxing’ bank holiday weekend

New research by HR software provider CIPHR has revealed how people are planning on spending their time off over the forthcoming jubilee bank holiday weekend.

Based on a poll of more than 1,000 UK adults, the results show that around one in five (21%) have made plans to celebrate the Queen’s 70-year reign in some way over 2-5 June.

Visiting a local jubilee-themed event is the most popular activity for people to mark the special occasion (14%), while a further one in ten (11%) people are planning on holding or attending a jubilee street party. Around the same number (10%) will be catching the action via televised coverage of official jubilee events, such as the Trooping the Colour parade, the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, and all-star Platinum Party at The Palace concert.

Of course, a large percentage of the population will still be working, or on-call, at least some of the time. According to CIPHR’s findings, around a third (31%) of adults in the UK do typically have to work over public bank holidays. So, the next ones are probably no exception.

Of those who have been given the day off as paid holiday, nearly a fifth (19% of women and 17% of men) admit that they are likely to spend at least an hour or more doing some unpaid overtime, such as checking or replying to emails. That figure rises to 32% for people working in senior management or leadership roles.

For most people though, the jubilee bank holiday is a great opportunity to rest, unwind and catch up with loved ones.

The most popular way to spend leisure time, for over a third of people (35.4%), is to do nothing but relax and take it easy. Meeting up with family runs a close second (34.9%).

Spending time with their partner or significant other is the third favourite thing to do (32%), followed by meeting up with friends (29%) and the less-fun prospect of doing cleaning and household chores (26%).

Over a fifth of those surveyed expect to spend at least two hours (probably more) staring at screens – either online browsing and social scrolling, or binge-watching TV shows and films (25% and 21% respectively). Although outdoor activities, such as gardening and dog walking, do also feature prominently in the top 20.

Here’s a run-down of the most popular bank holiday weekend plans:
Taking it easy / relaxing (35%)
Meeting up with family (35%)
Spending time with my partner / significant other (32%)
Meeting up with friends (29%)
Doing cleaning and household chores (26%)
Online browsing and / or social media scrolling (25%)
Going out for a meal or drinks (24%)
Cooking / baking (22%)
Binge-watching TV or films (21%)
Spending time in nature / the great outdoors (20%)
Catching up on sleep (20%)
Keeping my kids busy / entertained (19%)
Going shopping (18%)
Exercising (18%)
Gardening (16%)
Walking the dog(s) (15%)
Hosting a BBQ at home (14%)
Going to a local jubilee event (14%)
Doing life admin (14%)
Having a picnic (13%)

Notably, there are some generational differences in the ways that people plan to spend their time. For starters, meeting up with family is the first choice for people under 45, while over 45s prefer ‘taking it easy’ it seems.

Meeting up with friends is the second-most popular choice for over a quarter (28%) of 18-to-24-year-olds, followed by cooking or baking, then catching up with sleep (27% and 24% respectively).

The age group most likely to prioritise spending time with their partner, and going out for food or drinks, are 24-to-34-year-olds (37% and 31% respectively).