One in five Americans has stuck to their 2018 New Year’s Resolution

Jamie BallardData Journalist
June 28, 2018, 5:00 PM GMT+0

Only 6% of people said they had stuck to their resolution 100%, though 14% said they had “mostly” stuck with their resolution

Though many people make optimistic New Year’s Resolutions to exercise more, eat healthier, save money, or achieve other goals, not everyone manages to keep their resolution. New research from YouGov Omnibus shows that about 1 out of every 5 Americans (20%) has mostly or completely stuck to their New Year’s resolution, while 63% said they didn’t make a resolution in the first place.

Only 6% of people said they had stuck to their resolution 100%, though 14% said they had “mostly” stuck with their resolution. These results, which were collected on June 25, 2018, are largely similar to previous results collected on January 22, 2018 and on March 26, 2018. Respondents in all three surveys were asked the same exact questions.

In the January results, 23% of people said they had mostly or completely managed to keep their resolutions. In both March and June, 20% of people said they had mostly or completely kept them.

Six percent in January said they “mostly hadn’t” kept their resolution (compared to 8% in March and 7% in June). In all three surveys, nearly the same percentage of people (64% in March and 63% in January and June) said they hadn’t made resolutions at all.

The group that was the least likely to have made a resolution tended to be people who are 55 years or older. In all three surveys, more than three-quarters of 55+ respondents said they hadn’t made a resolution.

Interestingly, 68% of people in a separate December poll about New Year’s resolutions said that they were planning to commit to a 2018 resolution. Between December 8-11, 2017, people were asked a series of questions about their resolutions and their expectations for 2018. More than one-third (37%) said they wanted to make a resolution to eat healthier, while another 37% said they would resolve to exercise more. Another 37% said they wanted to save more money.

In the December poll, only 32% said they were not planning on making a resolution. But in the January, March and June surveys, about 63% said that they ultimately had not made a resolution.

Learn more about YouGov Omnibus.

Image: Getty

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