Almost 70 per cent of people in Ireland plan to do less or no indoor socialising this Christmas and will prioritise family over friends and work colleagues, a study by Core Research shows. People have no intention of ‘cancelling’ Christmas and instead plan to adapt expectations and behaviours while maintaining the festive spirit.
However, 46 per cent will not meet friends and 70 per cent will not meet work colleagues.
The report on the impact of Covid-19 on Irish people this Christmas indicates that 67 per cent of people plan to meet with family outside of their household this Christmas, with some socialising over Zoom. The average Irish adults plans to spend €1,350 during the festive season, with 62 per cent shopping less in-store or not at all when shops reopen.
When it comes to young adults, the cohort most likely to socialise at Christmas, 66 per cent said they would attend less or no indoor social events this year and only 15 per cent said they would like to have people over to their homes. There are groups who plan to return to Zoom screens and outdoor settings to socialise with close friends and family.
Spend
Of the €1,350 average personal budget, the largest amounts are expected to go towards gifts for friends and family (€208) and the big grocery spend (ex. alcohol – €194). Older families (households with teenagers) plan to spend €1,896 this Christmas, while young adults (under 40s with no children) plan to spend €1,117 on their Christmas spend.
The total Christmas budget for all Irish adults across Ireland is put at €4.3 billion, but with stores closed for six weeks the challenge will be to guide people to click and collect or online deliveries. The report is based on fieldwork conducted as this month’s Budget was being announced and the authorities were finalising a return to Level 5 restrictions.
The results are based on the views of 1,000 participants.
