A survey released by PayPal Canada on Tuesday discovered that a high percentage of Canadians are under substantial financial pressure this holiday season.
PayPal Canada, a subsidiary of PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL), released its PayPal Canada 2022 Holiday Snapshot Survey. It polled 2,000 Canadians and discovered that two in three respondents were under financial pressure. Also, seven in ten would be too embarrassed to ask for financial help to ease the cost of celebrating.
“Sharing the load and splitting costs with friends and family can be a difficult conversation, especially for Canadians who want to be thoughtful about others and their financial situation. Money management and splitting costs with family and friends is a difficult conversation,” said Malini Mitra, director of communications for PayPal Canada.
PayPal Holdings is an American fintech company working in the online payments system. It offers an electronic alternative to checks and money orders. The company also operates as a payment processor for online stores, auction sites and other commercial users.
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PayPal Survey reveals significant generation divide
The survey reported Gen Z was 33 per cent more likely to split gift costs than respondents in older generations. Two in five members of Gen Z polled indicated willingness to help with festivities for their parents (45 per cent) and grandparents (43 per cent). The reason is that they believe the older generations would be too proud to ask for money.
Respondents indicated hesitation to ask friends and family for help because they believe others are struggling (66 per cent). Other reasons include not wanting others to worry (52 per cent) or having too much pride (35 per cent).
The survey also revealed that 16 per cent of respondents would feel bad about owing people money if they were asked to divide spending. Additionally, 15 per cent said they would be worried cost-splitting requests would ruin the holiday mood.
Half of Canadians (51 per cent) said they would be making financial cuts this holiday season. The top provinces making cuts are British Columbia (53 per cent), Alberta (52 per cent), Ontario (51 per cent) and Quebec (48 per cent). These cuts include avoiding purchasing unnecessary presents (73 per cent), implementing a spending cap agreement (45 per cent), travel limits (36 per cent), having fewer people over (32 per cent) and asking visitors to contribute dishes to dinner (27 per cent)
Conversely, 53 per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t reduce their spending for friends and family, even at the expense of their own wish list.
Many Canadians prefer digital options
One in three Canadian respondents (35 per cent) indicated they use banking apps to transfer money. Other respondents plan to divide costs by getting someone to buy a specific item (18 per cent), paying back with cash (15 per cent) and transferring money using a digital payment service (6 per cent). Also, 45 per cent of respondents said they would be open to hearing about new digital ways to split costs.
