The number of people who will spend Christmas with their families this year has increased compared to 2020, and 8 out of 10 Romanians will stay home for the holidays, given the tiredness accumulated in the second pandemic year and the need to be more with their loved ones, according to a recent survey conducted on recruitment platform BestJobs, quoted by News.ro.
“The number of people who will spend Christmas with their family this year has increased compared to 2020. 8 out of 10 Romanians will stay home for the holidays, given the fatigue accumulated in the second pandemic year and the need to be more with loved ones, compared to 7 out of 10 last year. What’s more, half have the same plan for New Year’s Eve,” shows a recent survey conducted on recruitment platform BestJobs.
The risk of getting COVID-19 from meeting family and friends over the holidays is a concern for only 21% of respondents to the BestJobs survey. 30% believe the risk is minimal because they will take all necessary measures to limit exposure to the virus or keep their circle of attendees very small, and 46% are not at all concerned about getting sick.
However, more than half of the respondents will also spend New Year’s Eve, which in previous years was reserved for parties with friends, also with family, and only 23% plan to spend it with friends in a small circle after making sure they are safe from COVID-19.
A further 10% plan to spend 2022 with just their partner to avoid any risks and 6% say they will be alone on New Year’s Eve.
As a result, most respondents (72%) will stay at home on New Year’s Eve, while 14% will spend it away with relatives or friends. Only 5% made plans to spend it outside their home town, in the mountains or by the sea.
Overall, the budget of most respondents for Christmas presents and New Year’s Eve party is at most 500 lei each. Specifically, 48% of respondents have allocated a budget of 500 lei or less for this Christmas, another 18% between 500 and 1,000 lei, and 7% more than 1,000 lei, while the rest have not yet made their calculations or have no plans to buy presents at all.
Still no more than 500 lei will be spent by 58% of Romanians on New Year’s Eve, 12% will spend between 500 and 1,000 lei and only 4% plan to spend more than 1,000 lei, while 16% plan to spend nothing.
Holiday spending correlates with employees’ expectations of whether or not they will receive a bonus at the end of the year. Thus, 41% of respondents expect to receive a bonus or gift from their employer, while 27% think they will receive nothing. 40% expect the bonus to consist of cash or vouchers. 30% expect the value of the bonus or gift not to exceed 500 lei, while only 13% think the value will exceed this threshold, the survey reveals.
The survey was conducted between 20 November and 10 December among a sample of 1,041 internet users.