Put down your shopping bags and turn off that annoying Mariah Carey song: a new Ipsos poll is revealing what American adults really think about Christmas.
According to the poll, when it comes to Christmas songs most Americans (87%) say they wait until at least after Thanksgiving to start tuning into their favorite carols and jingles. When asked which song was the most “annoying and/or overplayed,” 12% said Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” 6% said “Jingle Bells,” 5% said “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” and 2% said “Santa Baby.”
Another 23% of Americans said “none/don’t know.”
Inflation in the US is causing Americans to tighten their budgets this year, with parents having to ask their children to narrow down their Christmas lists to Santa. At least 42% of Americans plan to spend less on gifts this holiday season compared to a year ago. As the highest inflation since the 1980s batters US adults, some of them may be thinking: “Should Christmas be so focused on shopping?”
A total of 75% of those surveyed believe “most Americans have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas,” while 84% of Christians agreed with that same statement. Some 88% of Republicans compared to 66% of Democrats agreed with the statement, whereas 81% of those aged 50 and older agreed and 66% of those aged 25 to 34 agreed that other Americans have forgotten “the real meaning” of Christmas.
Christmas is a sacred, religious holiday for Christians and celebrates the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, and has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870. But long before the birth of Jesus, early Europeans celebrated the winter solstice in recognition of longer days of sunlight to come.
Pope Julius I chose December 25 as the birth date of Jesus in the fourth century, though his true birthdate remains unknown. The date was chosen, historians believe, in an effort to adopt the traditions of the ancient Roman festival Saturnalia, to increase the popularity of the holiday.
Despite the fact that a majority of Americans believe the meaning of the holiday has been forgotten, around half of US children believe in Santa Claus while more than a fifth of American adults also believe in St. Nick.
Another 70% of Americans said they would be comfortable attending a holiday party for a religion other than their own.
As for the debate on when to start decorating for Christmas, nearly 85% of Americans say they decorate for the holiday, with 41% saying they start to take their decorations down in the first week of January. Almost half (48%) think holiday decorations should be left up in the first week of January and even less (23%) think those decorations should come down by late January.