The holiday season has grown longer and more demanding in the eyes of many Americans, a recent YouGov survey finds. While some people welcome extended festivities, others feel the season now begins too early and carries heightened expectations compared to what they remember from their childhood. But despite the stressors that accompany the holidays — including financial pressures, crowded stores, and the demands of holiday preparations — Americans are most likely to feel positive emotions about the holidays, with majorities saying they often feel grateful, loved, and happy.
Holiday timing and expectations
Most Americans say that compared to when they were growing up, people today generally start celebrating the holidays much or somewhat earlier (60%). And nearly half (47%) say that expectations around the holidays have increased either a lot or a little since their childhood.
But a longer holiday season is not most Americans' preference: 42% of Americans say that people generally start celebrating the holidays too early, while 46% say they start at about the right time, and 5% say they start not early enough. About half (48%) say expectations around the holidays are too high, while 34% say they are about right, and 6% say they aren't high enough.
Holiday feelings
In an earlier survey, we asked Americans to tell us in their own words how they feel during the holiday season. We analyzed their responses with the assistance of AI tools, and in our latest survey, we asked people to tell us how often they experience the feelings mentioned most often in the initial survey.
Majorities of Americans say that around the holidays, they always or usually feel grateful (73%), loved (64%), and happy (61%). Many also say they often feel cozy (47%), excited (45%), and nostalgic (41%).
Feelings of sadness, loneliness, and stress are less common, though at least half of people say they experience each of these emotions at least sometimes during the holidays.
Holiday stressors
While positive feelings are most likely to be associated with the holidays, two-thirds of Americans say they at least sometimes feel stress related to the holidays. To understand what these stressors are, we asked Americans to tell us in their own words what their least favorite part of the holidays is. Responses to this question helped inform a follow-up, in which we asked respondents to select all that apply from two lists of holiday stressors.
The largest share of Americans (50%) say that around the holidays, they feel stress or anxiety related to spending money. Other common stressors include missing loved ones (44%), crowds and traffic (43%), shopping for gifts (40%), winter weather (37%) and shorter days and lack of sunlight (36%).
Women are more likely than men to say they experience most holiday stressors. Women are more likely than men to say they feel stress or anxiety related to cooking and cleaning (41% vs. 21%), shopping for gifts (48% vs. 32%), missing loved ones (51% vs. 36%), and putting up and taking down decorations (31% vs. 20%).
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See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and David Montgomery contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted December 10 - 13, 2024 among 1,135 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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