The holiday season is the time many of us use to emotionally unwind. Some are traveling to spend time with family and others look forward to a break from work. Not to mention, for many, it’s also the time of gift giving.
This year, most Americans are also planning to buy gifts for themselves. In a recent Bankrate survey, we’ve found that 57 percent of holiday shoppers are planning to spend money to treat themselves.
I’ve dug a bit deeper into the numbers—here’s what I’ve found.
During this holiday season, of those shopping for winter holidays and planning to treat themselves:
- Millennials are more likely to spend money than other generations
- Men are more likely to spend money than women
- Westerners are more likely to spend money than those from other regions
- Across all income levels, more than half of households are likely to spend money
Millennials are most likely to spend money to treat themselves
An earlier CreditCards.com survey found that millennials were willing to go over the top with expenses this holiday season, contemplating going into debt for the sake of holiday cheer, and spending more on their loved ones than other generations.
The trend seems to persist. Sixty-three percent of millennials are likely to spend money to treat themselves this holiday season. As is often the case, they’re closely trailed by Gen Z, 61 percent of which are also thinking of spending money to spoil themselves for the holidays.
To compare, only 54 percent of Gen X and 55 percent of baby boomers are planning to spend money on treating themselves this holiday season.
Men are more likely than women to spend money to treat themselves
Despite whatever gender bias exists when it comes to how men and women manage finances, it looks like men might be more prone to buying things to make themselves feel good.
In the survey from CreditCards.com mentioned earlier, we found that more men (40 percent) than women (34 percent) were willing to go into debt this holiday season, and most men (19 percent) said it was to make themselves happy.
The Bankrate survey shows similar findings. Of those who shop for the holidays, men (60 percent) are more likely than women (54 percent) to spend money to treat themselves during the holiday season.
We can only speculate on why men generally feel safer spending and borrowing money, but I don’t think it comes down to money management skills. It’s more likely that women’s socioeconomic background, historically laden with complex interwoven issues like the infamous gender pay gap, has made them …….