Nearly one in three (28 per cent) of us dread the festive cheer and a similar number (33 per cent) admit they don’t always get into the spirit of celebrating.
And, it appears that men are the main Yuletide party-poopers. More than a fifth (21 per cent) sometimes feel like a bit of a scrooge compared with just over one in 10 (13 per cent) women. One in six (16 per cent) men say they only go along with Christmas to please other people and one in ten don’t celebrate at all (compared with one in 20 of women).
And the reasons for this lack of ‘goodwill to all men’ are that half (48 per cent) believe Christmas has become too commercial, 40 per cent can’t be bothered with all the fuss and nearly a quarter (23 per cent) prefer to spend on other things.
For those that do celebrate the festive season, when it comes to exchanging presents 45 per cent of men think too much emphasis is placed on buying presents, yet a third (33 per cent) love receiving them. Women, it seems, relish the chance to spoil their family members – 56 per cent love buying presents for people.
However, two thirds (63 per cent) of people say they love spending time with their families during the holidays and the traditional Boxing Day family gathering is still a mainstay of the British Christmas. December 26 is the day of choice for 73 per cent of festive family events.
Richard Wood, Head of Financial Services for Zurich said, “Christmas is all about spending quality time with family and friends, catching up on what’s changed and indulging in turkey dinners, mince pies as well as giving and receiving gifts. It’s surprising to see that not everyone enjoys the festivities – and also interesting that most of us love the present giving.”
“The Median product available from Select & Protect, which includes its revolutionary Elements proposition, automatically increases the amount of contents cover for policyholders over Christmas and all Religious Festivals by £3,000. There tends to be so many presents in the house, so this can be a real bonus should anything untoward happen in the event of flood, fire or theft. With so many presents lying around, you should always make sure your house is secure and safe from those who might want to open them before the big day.”