Stats and Stripes: 12/06

Stats and Stripes 12/6

• 19: days until Christmas

The time is almost here to celebrate Christmas cheer. 19 more days until we can celebrate the holiday in which presents are opened, hot coco is sipped, and being annually disappointed by your uncle buying socks as a gift. We are almost a few days away from celebrating our annual holiday.

• 26: days till New Years Eve

New Years Eve is 26 days away as we head into 2022. As things are getting prepared to celebrate the beginning of the new year, Times Square is said to be having over hundreds and thousands of vaccinated people celebrate within its location. According to the New York Times, New York Cities Mayor (Bill de Blasio) hopes to make sure that everybody arriving will be vaccinated for the safety of the enormous crowd amongst them. As the new variant of covid is out spreading, it’s good to make sure that people are still safe during their celebration.

• 8.5%: the predicted increase in retail sales for American businesses this christmas, according to Statista.

It seems as though the more time passes, the more profitable Christmas becomes for businesses worldwide. This can usually be attributed to improved marketing campaigns increasing demand for christmas themed products and the gradually increasing ability of consumers to purchase said products, but this year the increase can likely be attributed (at least in part) to the worldwide desire to use Christmas as an escape from the brutal realities of the pandemic.

• 85%: the percent of kids under the age of five who believe in Santa Clause, according to CNN Health

Christmas has become an integral aspect of the American winter season, with the number of young children who believe in the jolly old fat man serving as living proof of the holiday’s effect on our society.

• 92%: percentage of Americans who celebrate Christmas as of 2021, according to DMR

The popularity of Christmas seems to be constant each holiday season, with even the pandemic being seemingly unable to affect the American Christmas spirit.

• 26.2 million: the number of live Christmas trees purchased last year, according to pickyourownchristmastree.org 

The heart of Christmas for many Americans is the shining and vigorously decorated Christmas tree that has always been at the center of the tradition, and the number of live trees that are consistently sold to Americans each year serves as evidence that this aspect of the holiday will remain important even as it continues to evolve.

• 471.44 billion: the amount of money Americans donated to charitable causes last year according to NPtrust

For many people around the world, a main issue is that multiple charities don’t receive the amount of attention and resources they need to help support their causes. We’re very glad to know that we as a country have raised up to about 471.44 billion dollars within donations for these different charities. Hopefully this year’s statistics will be higher than the previous year, as we continue to make a difference across the globe.