What Americans think about giving cash as holiday gifts

[AP Photo]

Welcome to exhausted America 2025: Most adults are more than a little fine with doling out cash as gifts, and many plan to be asleep before midnight on New Year’s Eve, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

About 6 in 10 Americans say cash or gift cards are “very” acceptable as holiday presents, but they’re much less likely to say that about a gift that was purchased secondhand or re-gifted, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

“Cash is OK for the grandkids I guess,” said Nancy Wyant, 73, in rural central Iowa. “But I’m a gift giver.”

Come New Year’s Eve, she’ll be fast asleep before 2026 rolls around. “At our age, we don’t do anything,” the retired bus driver said with a laugh of herself and her live-in partner. “He’s set in his ways.”

They’ll be joined by the 44% of Americans who say they won’t stay up to greet 2026, according to the poll. About half of U.S. adults age 45 or older won’t make it to midnight, compared with around one-third of adults under age 45.

Consider 23-year-old Otis Phillips in Seattle, an outlier for his age. He, too, will turn in early. “It’s one of the holidays that doesn’t really feel special to me,” said the master’s student.

Cash makes an acceptable holiday gift

Cash is a safer gift for younger adults. The poll found about two-thirds of Americans under 45 say cash is a “very” acceptable holiday gift, compared with 55% of adults age 45 or older.

“Everything’s too expensive nowadays. And I don’t want to go buy a gift for somebody and then it turns out they don’t like it. So cash,” said Gabriel Antonucci, 26, a ski resort cook in Alaska, about an hour outside of Anchorage.

Most people at least grudgingly accept various gift types, with about 9 in 10 saying cash or gift cards are at least “somewhat” acceptable and about 6 in 10 saying the same for secondhand gifts and re-gifted items.

Teresa Pedroza, a 55-year-old mom of two adult sons in central Florida, is mostly not on board.

“I don’t like it when kids say they want cash, or I should get teenagers gift cards,” she said. “It kind of takes some of the charm away from gift giving.” But she acknowledged reaching for cards a time or two out of convenience.

About three-quarters of adults under age 45 say secondhand gifts are at least “somewhat” acceptable, compared with about 6 in 10 adults age 45 or older. About 4 in 10 adults age 45 or older say secondhand gifts are “somewhat” or “very” unacceptable.

Many keep holiday decor up

It’s not just your pesky neighbors who leave their holiday decorations up into January. About one-third of U.S. adults say they’ll leave them up after New Year’s Day.

It’s more common for people to leave their decorations up after the holiday season than to put them up early, according to the poll. About 2 in 10 Americans say they put up holiday decorations before Thanksgiving.

“I just had my husband bring down the bins. If we weren’t expecting company, I wouldn’t even bother to decorate, honestly. I’m tired of doing that,” said Pedroza, the Florida mom of two.

Many will celebrate Christmas with sports

About one-quarter of U.S. adults say they’re planning to watch sports on Christmas Day, while only 5% will head for a movie theater.

Men are much likelier than women to say they’ll watch sports on Christmas, and older Americans are much more likely than younger Americans to tune in. About 2 in 10 adults under age 45 say they plan to watch sports on Christmas, compared with about 3 in 10 adults age 45 or older.

Phillips does plan to break out his red sweater with the green Christmas tree that one of his grandmothers knitted for him a couple of years ago.

“She made all kinds of things for me growing up,” he said. “This is by far my favorite.” Phillips has it in rotation for his part-time job as a grocery checkout clerk.

He’s the outlier once again. Women are much likelier than men to say they’ll wear a holiday sweater or accessories.

Gifts for pets and Elf on the Shelf

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say they will give a gift to their pet this year.

In Iowa, Wyant’s nearly 3-year-old boxer-Great Dane mix named Indy is among them.

“She’s a very spoiled dog,” Wyant said. “She’s got too many toys, so she’s getting treats this year. She loves her treats.”

And the red felt elf that parents move around the house every night as a Santa spy to see which kids have been naughty or nice? Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults say they’ll do Elf on the Shelf.

“Noooo,” Pedroza said when asked if she’d ever done the elf for her kids. “My younger son was very well-behaved. I didn’t have to use any kind of tactics.” LEANNE ITALIE, NEW YORK, MDT/AP