It’s “Christmas”, not just a “Holiday Season” in the US, UK and Canada

It’s “Christmas”, not just a “Holiday Season” in the US, UK and Canada

[December 23, 2013] – In the US, UK and Canada over eight in ten prefer to call this time of year “Christmas”, rather than the more neutral “Holiday Season”.

Having Christmas dinner and getting together with family and friends is something that will unite over eight in ten citizens in each one of these three countries.  This rare display of cultural cohesion cuts across not just national but also age, gender and socioeconomic lines.

The religious aspect of Christmas is personally meaningful to large numbers in all countries.  A full 72% in the US, 51% in Canada and 40% in the UK will “celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th”.  Large swaths of each nation will go so far as to attend special Christmas services (40% US, 32% Canada, 25% UK).

More Americans and Canadians will say grace than go shopping for Boxing Day bargins (59% grace, 12% Boxing Day bargains in US, 39% grace and 37% Boxing Day sales in Canada).  And even in the UK—the home of Boxing Day—the numbers are relatively close (20% grace vs. 29% Boxing Day).

“Christmas stands out as a uniquely unifying holiday in these countries,” says Angus Reid, Chairman, Angus Reid Global. “The fact that Christmas brings so many people together without losing its strong religious roots make it all the more unusual in our often fractured and divisive cultures.”

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