Christmas - A time for giving!
In a recent MORI survey 81% said that they were looking forward to Christmas.
Although nearly two-thirds (64%) agreed that Christmas comes too early these days, 80% disagreed that they were tired of Christmas already.
Fifty six per cent said that they were worried about how much Christmas will cost, but 95% still agreed that Christmas was a time for giving.
Christmas is an important time for the family (97%) and 63% said they will be spending Christmas at home, with their children (62%), partner / spouse (54%) and parents (39%). Only 8% said that they felt lonely at Christmas.
The most popular things to do over Christmas are drinking alcohol (81%), having a roast turkey (76%), giving money to charity (67%) and going to a Christmas party (51%). Just over half (55%) said that they will watch / listen to the Queen's Christmas message (compared with only 20% in 1995) and 79% said that she should continue broadcasting to the Commonwealth on Christmas day.
With regard to the Christmas story, 79% understood that the term "the nativity" was the story of Christ's birth and that Jesus was born in Bethlehem (87%). Just over two-thirds (68%) knew that Gabriel was the angel who first told Mary that she would be having a child and 92% knew that there were three wise men who visited Mary after the birth of Jesus bearing gifts.
When asked what gifts, the following answers were given:
| Gold |  76% |
| Frankincense | 86% |
| Myrrh | 87% |
| Silver | 1% |
| Other * | 2% |
| Don't know / no opinion | 9% |
Technical details
MORI interviewed 751 adults aged 16+ across Great Britain.Interviews were conducted by telephone on 4-5 December 1997.Data are weighted to the profile of Great Britain.
