Ever wonder how much time we devote to celebrating the
holiday season?
In a new breakdown based on the latest Consumer Reports
Holiday Shopping Poll, the average person expects to spend about 42 hours
buying, wrapping, and returning gifts -- as well as partying and traveling to
visit family and friends.
"When you break down the numbers you really get and idea of
how much so many of us have invested in the holidays," said Tod Marks, Consumer
Reports senior editor and resident shopping expert. "And it's nice to see that
it's not all about shopping, but it's also about coming together.'
Here's a look at how we'll be spending our time this holiday
season:
On gifts
- Consumers will spend lots of time gift-shopping -- 15 hours on average. Women plan to spend twice as long as men -- 20 hours versus 10 hours respectively.
- Shoppers estimate that they will wait on check out lines in stores for about three and a half hours, on average; one in four expect to stand in line four hours or more.
- Once they get home, consumers plan to spend about three hours, on average, wrapping gifts; one in four expect to spend four or more hours doing so.
- People also anticipate they will devote about an hour -- on average -- to returning gifts; half say they won't spend any time making returns.
Entertainment
- About 15 hours, on average, will be spent attending parties,
gatherings or events with friends or family; a quarter (24 percent) plan to
will spend twenty hours or more.
To and Fro
- Consumers estimate that they will spend 7.4 hours, on average, traveling to or from their holiday destinations; a quarter (24 percent said they will spend 10 hours or more.
Poll methodology
The Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted a telephone survey of a nationally representative probability sample of telephone households. Another 1,015 interviews were completed among adults aged 18+ between November 4 - 7, 2010. The margin of error is +/- 3% points at a 95 percent confidence level.
