If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

LIFESTYLE

20% of Men Are Last-Minute Shoppers This Christmas

As usual, men are waiting to the last minute to do their holiday shopping, but they’re also planning to spend more than women compared to a year ago.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 80% of all American Adults have started their holiday gift shopping. That’s up from 71% two weeks ago but down slightly from the 83% who had started by this time last year. Fifteen percent (15%) have not yet begun to shop, comparable to last year’s last-minute figure but better than the 22% who hadn’t started just before Christmas two years ago. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Men (20%) are twice as likely as women (10%), however, not to have started their holiday shopping yet this year.

Interestingly, though, 66% of men and 67% of women say they’ve finished shopping. Thirty percent (30%) of both groups have not.

Among those who have finished their shopping, 29% say they spent more this holiday season than they did last year; 31% say they spent less, while 38% rate their level of spending as about the same.

Maybe they’re looking for cover for their late buying habits, but 28% of men say they’re going to spend more this year, compared to 21% of women.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls).   Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 22, 2016 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Americans overwhelmingly continue to celebrate Christmas, and it remains the nation's top holiday. Fifty-nine percent (59%) generally consider the holiday season joyous, tying the highest level measured in surveys since 2007.

Adults under 40 are the biggest shopping procrastinators and the least likely to be done. But they’re also more likely to expect to spend more this holiday season compared to last year.

Blacks are slower to start shopping than whites and other minority Americans. Over half of blacks (53%) expect to spend less this year.

Americans with children living with them are more likely to be spending more this year than those who don’t have kids in the home.

The more one earns, the more likely he or she is to be spending more this holiday season.

Regardless of their buying patterns, 65% of all Americans believe Christmas should be more about Jesus Christ than Santa Claus.

Seventy-four percent (74%) plan to do at least some of their holiday gift shopping online this year, including 29% who intend to do all or most of their shopping that way.

While the holiday shopping season may be upon us, the real story this month is the boom in economic confidence. Since Donald Trump was elected president, consumers have become far more confident not just in the current state of the economy but in its direction as well.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) or follow us on Twitter or Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 22, 2016 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.