Christmastime has long been a season for shopping and giving gifts to friends and family who are special to us. Lately, however, it seems younger generations have been placing less priority on giving gifts to others and are instead splurging on themselves.
According to a new survey from Business Insider and Morning Consult, there is a large generational gap when it comes to shopping priorities. While older generations plan to spend the most on their children for their holiday spending, almost a quarter of Generation Z (ages 18-22) say they plan to spend the most on themselves. In every other generation, only 5%-7% said they planned to spend the most on themselves.
Granted, slightly more than a quarter of Generation Z said they planned to spend the most on their parents. Still, the vast gap between the portion of Generation Z spending on themselves versus other generations is striking.
In addition to the generational gap, there was also an interesting religious gap. While only 6% of Christians said they planned to spend the most on themselves, 14% of all non-Christians said the same.
There’s also a gender gap, with 10% of men saying they plan to spend the most on themselves, versus 5% of women. At the same time, 21% of men said they planned to spend the most on their spouse, compared to only 11% of women.
Still, no gap was as striking as the gap between Gen Zers spending on themselves versus every other generation. Will the Gen Zers who plan to get themselves gifts instead of family or friends always be that way, or will they grow up to embrace the spirit of Christmas selflessness?
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute to the Washington Examiner regularly.
