A new survey has revealed that Irish men hate being single at Christmas and are far more likely than women to view it as a romantic holiday.
The survey of 450 UK and Irish singles by from premium dating site EliteSingles asked respondents to name the day of the year when they least wanted to be single. For women, it’s simple: Valentine’s Day. For men, however, the worst day of the year to be single is Christmas Day.
The singles in the survey were also asked who they most wanted to spend time with at Christmas and men seemed smitten with the idea of celebrating as a couple: 51% want to spend Christmas with a romantic partner. For women, it’s 28%.
61% of men think it is a great time of year for a new partner to meet the family.
Men are also more likely than women to think of the holidays as the perfect occasion for a new partner to meet the family, with 61% agreeing that everyone being in one place makes it easy. Women were more divided: 48% agree with the men and 52% believe that there’s too much pressure at Christmas.
Irish men’s taste for Christmas romance also outstrips women when it comes to gift-giving, with 82% of men thinking that it’s important to buy gifts for a new partner, compared with 66% of women. Men are also happier to give big gifts earlier: 15% of men (and just 8% of women) think it’s ok to gift something big, expensive, and/or meaningful within the first month of dating.
However, with 34% of women revealing that they’ve been made to feel uncomfortable in the past by being given a fancy gift too soon into a relationship, men in very new romances are urged to curb their festive enthusiasm (at least until next Christmas come around!).
