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Economic and Social Impact
of Christmas
Economics of Christmas
Christmas is typically the largest annual economic stimulus for the
economies of celebrating Christian nations. Sales increase dramatically in
almost all retail areas, as people purchase gifts, decorations, and supplies
for parties and for visiting guests. Shops introduce new products that are
sold at premium prices, as customers take advantage of the many marketing
opportunities.
Christmas Day - National Savings Bank
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In the United States, the Christmas shopping season has
lengthened such that it now begins the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black
Friday in the retail industry. For some shops and other businesses, Christmas
Day is the only day in the year that they are closed.
The economic aspects of Christmas continue after the holiday, with
Christmas sales and New Year's sales, when stores sell off goods that were
not sold before Christmas. They also use this opportunity to clear out goods,
or to take advantage of the many shoppers who go to these events, to increase
their sales.
In North America, the holiday movie season is generally a repository for
film studios' more prestigious pictures (positioning themselves for Oscar
consideration), and is the second-most lucrative season after summer. That
said, movies with Christmas as a topic, generally open no later than
Thanksgiving, because once the day is past, no one wants to see a Christmas
movie anymore.
Social impact of Christmas
Because of the focus on celebration, friends, and family, people who are
without these, or who have recently suffered losses, are more likely to
suffer from depression during the holidays. This increases the pressure on
counseling services during the period.
Suicides and murders spike during the holiday season; and because of
holiday celebrations involving alcohol, drunk driving may also increase.
Non-Christians in predominantly Christian-secular nations are left without
anything to do on the days near Christmas, as stores close and friends depart
for vacations. The cliché thing to do for these people is "movies and
Chinese food"; movie theaters remaining open to bring in holiday box
office dollars and Chinese (and presumably Buddhist, et al.) establishments
being less likely to close for the big day.
also see:
Giftmas
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from
Wikipedia
and from ShiningRise.com
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