The millennial generation doesn’t have much money, but that won’t stop them from spending money on themselves this holiday season.
The poorest generation in America will still spend big money this coming holiday season – but not necessarily to buy gifts for friends and family.
In a representative survey of more than 1,000 Americans, we asked people about their spending habits this coming holiday season.
The survey found that 52% of millennials (defined as ages 18-34) will spend more than $100 on themselves this holiday season, compared with just 43% of other Americans.
But their willingness to spend didn’t translate across the board; when it came buying gifts for others, only 77% of millennials were likely to spend more than $100 compared with 88% of their compatriots. Even when adjusting for their lower income, millennials were still less willing to spend significantly on others compared with other generations.
Not only are millennials willing to spend a lot on themselves, they’re also willing to go into debt to get what they want over the holiday season. Nearly 16% of millennials (almost double the rate of other Americans) said they were “very willing” to make purchases for things they can’t afford to pay in cash or savings.
Millennials also reported being more open to creative ways to stretch their holiday dollars. When asked “How likely are you to participate in creative cost-saving activities during the holiday season, such as a Secret Santa, a potluck dinner, a book exchange, or any other method of saving money?”, 69% of millennials said they were likely to participate, compared with 56% of older respondents.
As we approach the new year, we asked Americans about the state of their finances in 2019, and their level of optimism looking forward to 2019 and beyond. 59% of millennials reported being better off financially than they were last year (compared to 46% of other Americans). And the optimism doesn’t end with this year; 76% of millennials said they think they’ll be better off financially in 2019 than they are now (compared to 55% of other Americans).
Source: Yoni Dayan [https://www.moneyunder30.com]
