62% of mums say they find Christmas at least fairly stressful, compared to 44% of dads and 45% of women who do not have children
Christmas might be Britain’s most popular holiday and a jolly time for many, but it is also a festival that requires a lot of planning, organising and work, meaning that it can cause a fair bit of stress too.
For 45% of Britons, Christmas is normally a stressful experience, with 10% going as far as saying they find it ‘very’ stressful.
But this stress burden is not evenly spread, with some feeling the strain of Christmas more than others.
Parents in particular have a harder time over the holidays, with 52% of those with children under the age of 18 in their household saying they find Christmas stressful, compared to 42% of non-parents and those whose children have all flown the nest.
But among parents, stress levels are not evenly shared, with mothers feeling the burden more than fathers. Six in ten mums (62%) normally find Christmas to be a stressful experience, including one in six (17%) who say they find it to be very stressful. This compares to just 44% of dads.
And although one in six dads (16%) describe their Christmases as typically not stressful at all, this is true of only 6% of mums.
The burdens of Christmas seem to fall more heavily on women regardless of whether they have children. Overall, 52% of women say they find Christmas stressful, compared to 39% of men, but even among women who do not have children, there are higher reported levels of stress than there are for childless men (45% vs 37%).
Does more money make Christmas less stressful?
It might be expected that someone’s level of income can also impact how stressful they find Christmas, but while those with lower household incomes are a little more likely to say they find Christmas stressful (48%) than those with higher incomes (43%), the overall difference is not especially stark.
But among parents, who will of course (alongside Santa) be under pressure to fulfil their child’s wishlist, stress levels differ more widely by income. Christmas is a stressful time for 57% of parents in low income households, ten points higher than among those in high income households (47%).
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Photo: Getty
