Eight in ten Britons will speak to their neighbours over Christmas

A new survey commissioned by The Challenge reveals that 8 in 10 people in Britain will speak to their neighbours over the Christmas period.  By contrast, only 14 per cent of people said they never speak to their neighbours.

The findings of the survey tell a positive story about the extent to which people in Britain interact with their neighbours both at Christmas time and during the rest of the year, with 7 in 10 reporting to have conversations with their neighbours ‘all year round’. When asked where they will speak to their neighbours, respondents said that they are most likely to speak to their neighbours over the Christmas period out and about in the street (73%) and in their homes (49%).

The findings also show that people aged 55 – 75 years are more likely than 16 – 24 year olds to talk to their neighbours over the Christmas period (89 per cent vs 67 per cent).

Of those who will speak to their neighbours over Christmas, 71 per cent said that they were likely to speak to neighbours who are of a different age. The figure stands at 23 per cent for people who say they are likely to talk to neighbours from a different ethnic background to themselves, which may be reflective of the types of areas people live in rather than people choosing not to speak to people from different ethnic groups.

• Download the data tables

• Ipsos interviewed a sample of 1,170 adults aged 16-75 living in Great Britain. Fieldwork was conducted online between 4th and 8th December 2015, using the Ipsos online panel, and included a nationally-representative poll of c. 1,000 respondents plus a boost sample of those from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. Data are weighted to be representative of the British population aged 16-75 years. 
• Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding,the exclusion of “don’t know” categories, or multiple answers.