Greens remain Christmas grinches

Not even Christmas can light up this miserable year, with fewer Australians saying they enjoy Christmas than last year. And as in 2015, Greens voters are the worst grinches of all, according to the latest Essential Report.

On the question of whether people enjoy Christmas, 34% of Australians say they enjoy Christmas a lot, down 2% from last year, but 46% say they enjoy some things about Christmas, compared to 44% last time around.

Coalition voters are more likely to enjoy Christmas a lot at 43%, up from 41% last year. Labor voters are liking Christmas less, with 32% saying they enjoy Christmas a lot compared to 38% last year. Greens voters are also enjoying Christmas a lot less, with 23% saying they enjoy Christmas a lot compared to 32% last year.

A total of 7% of Australians say they don’t enjoy Christmas at all, up 1% from last year, with those who vote Greens or other parties such as One Nation the highest percentage of people not enjoying Christmas at 12% and 10% respectively.

Women were more likely to say they enjoy Christmas a lot at 37%, while 42% of younger people between 18 and 34 say they also enjoy Christmas a lot. People earning over $2000 per week were more likely to enjoy Christmas a lot (39%) compared to those who earn under $1,000 per week (24%). People with children were also more likely to enjoy Christmas a lot compared to those without (40% to 29%).

Voters for the other parties, including One Nation were more likely to encourage their children to believe in Santa than any other type of voter, at 84%, followed closely by Coalition voters at 80%, Labor voters at 77% and Greens last at 60%.

It’s a bigger decline for the Greens telling their kids to believe in Santa, down 8% from last year. All up, 19% of all Australians did not encourage their children to believe in Santa, and younger people are much less likely to tell their children to believe in Santa than people over the age of 55 (69% to 83%).