Survey reveals sons are the most spoilt family members at Christmas

It is estimated that 93% of the UK celebrates Christmas in some form each year. Across the UK, that equates to 63.5 billion Christmas day celebrations in 2021. But while most of us are together in celebrating the festive holiday, how we spend it is often up for debate.

While some stay cosy in loungewear on the 25th of December, others get dressed up in sparkly occasionwear or even novelty Christmas outfits. Likewise, some turn the Christmas tree lights on and open presents before 6 am while others wait until after the big Christmas dinner.

Our own Christmas traditions are often deeply personal to our families and our traditions that we’ve grown up with or even had passed down through generations. In fact, 27% admitted to not being willing to change or try new Christmas traditions and a further 39% of people couldn’t decide whether they would be willing to change what they do on Christmas day.

But while there is no right or wrong when it comes to Christmas, there are certainly some Christmas traditions that are more common than others. Next surveyed 2,000 UK respondents to find out how they celebrate Christmas – from when you should put your Christmas decorations up, right through to how much to spend on your partner and what to wear on Christmas day.

The most spoilt friends and family

Christmas shoppers are estimated to spend up to £1,380 on their nearest and dearest in the run-up to Christmas each year, but it’s the UK’s children that cost us the most.

Sons take the top spot as the most spoilt members of the family with £128 being spent on them, this is followed closely by daughters with £127. Luckily, Santa also picks up some of the expenses when it comes to spoiling the children at Christmas.

Next on the expensive Christmas shopping list are our partners/spouses, who have on average £125 spent on them each year. But a gender breakdown of this data shows that men spoil their other half more than women do – spending £150 versus the £101 spent by women on their partners.

On the less-expensive side of the scale are friends/best friends with an average of £64 and £66 being spent respectively. This might still sound generous, but this could also be shared across multiple friendship groups or individuals.

Data shows that it’s often these cheaper presents that are the most likely to slip from our gift lists with 24% of the UK admitting to not buying any of their friends Christmas presents. Likewise, 24% don’t participate in any secret Santa exchanges despite it coming in at the cheaper end of the spectrum at £68.

The UK’s attitudes to tradition

As the data shows, there are many ways to spend Christmas day, and nothing will quite ignite a debate among the nation like discussing how to spend it. But many of us also aren’t willing to change or compromise on the big day.

Just 6% of the UK’s population strongly agree that they’d be open to trying new Christmas traditions. A whopping 67% either disagreed or couldn’t decide whether or not they’d be up for trying new things at Christmas. A further 30% admit to feeling protective over the customs they grew up with and aren’t willing to change them.

But when it comes to celebrating Christmas with a partner, compromise can be essential. Men generally find compromising around the holidays easier with 22% adopting new traditions from their partner versus just 16% of women.

Relationship expert James Preece said “Christmas day is all about doing things for other people, so make sure you make it a fair balance. Make a list of all the things that are important to you both and work your way through this. Choose the ones you each want to stick to and accept the same from your partner. However, keep in mind that part of the fun of the season is creating new traditions to look forward to…together.”