Siena College Poll suggests half of New Yorkers will hold holiday shopping to $500 or less

LOUDONVILLE, NY- Nearly 50-percent of New Yorkers statewide are planning to hold their holiday gift shopping to $500 or less, according to the latest poll released this week from Siena College.

In addition, 16-percent of all state residents, including a third of those making $100-K or more, will spend more than $1,000 this season.

Over half of those surveyed will conduct either between 50% – 75% (29%) or between 75% -100% (22%) of their holiday shopping online this year and over half will buy gift cards for some on their holiday list, the poll suggests.

“Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers regardless of how hard the spending will hit their wallet, are excited about the coming season. But, with one-third already feeling economic headwinds, half say ‘I’ll spend on food, gifts, decorations and parties but it’s gonna hurt’,” according to SCRI Director, Don Levy.

“Among New Yorkers making 50K or less, over 40% are worse off today financially than a year ago, nearly half hope to spend less than last year and 62% say even with watching their spending, the holiday bills will hurt.”

While 23% of state residents say that their finances are improved from this time a year ago, 44% say that their finances are unchanged and nearly a third, 31%, say that they are worse off. Half of all New Yorkers say that all of their holiday spending combined, food, gifts and any other holiday spending will have a somewhat (34%) or very (15%) serious impact on their financial condition.

One in five New Yorkers say that they will pay the bills for holiday spending over a period of time that could extend well into 2024, according to data from the poll.

Other findings:

• 37% will be giving homemade gifts. 27% will be buying experience gifts such as concert or sporting event tickets or spa gift certificates.
• 30% will be traveling to visit family or friends for the holidays. Of those, 79% will be traveling by car, 37% by plane and 24% by train. 43% will be traveling outside of New York within the U.S.
• 33% will spend more on holiday food this year than they did last year. 76% are buying food for a holiday dinner or party. Only 11% of New Yorkers will neither host nor attend a holiday party or dinner. 37% will attend parties, 20% will host and 31% will both host and attend.
• Of those that say holiday spending will have a somewhat or very serious impact on their financial condition, 62% are excited about the holiday season, but 35% are less excited than they were last year. Half of these New Yorkers hope to spend less than last year as 48% say that they are already worse off financially this year than last and 26% know that they will carry holiday spending as debt well into next year.

*This Siena College Poll was conducted November 19 – 28, 2023, among 805 New York State residents. Of the 805 respondents, 416 were contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode and 389 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Lucid).

Siena College image.