In December we got into the holiday spirit and asked Couch members what they and their families planned to do during the summer. We invited them to share with us their family traditions, celebrations and thoughts about what this time of the year means to them. The poll ran from mid- December 2006 to mid-January 2007.
Many thanks to the 1,090 Couch members who took part in this poll and shared their holiday plans and customs with us. Spending time with family and friends during the festive season is important to our members and most planned to take time off work and travel both within and outside New Zealand to be with their families. People told us they were looking forward to doing a range of outdoor activities during the summer such as visiting beaches or lakes, having picnics or BBQs and doing a bit of DIY. Couch members also told us about their Christmas traditions, the most popular being gift exchanging and sharing a family meal. However, the joy of Christmas and summer can also be tinged with sadness as people cope with stress caused by financial difficulties and separation from families.
The Couch members who took part were planning lots of outdoor recreational activities over the summer. The most popular of these were visiting a beach, lake, river, or pool; having a picnic or BBQ; and visiting a park or garden. About half those who responded were planning some DIY activities.
Most Couch members were taking a break from their regular daily activities this summer.
A large number of people said that they were holidaying with their immediate family. About one-fifth planned to holiday with friends.
Most people who took part were holidaying for one week or more this summer.
Although a large number of people planned to travel within New Zealand this summer, many were holidaying at home.
Most Couch members who responded do not work on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
Sharing a special family meal and exchanging gifts were the most popular traditions for Couch members at Christmas time. A lot of people also decorated a Christmas tree, wrote Christmas cards, and filled or made a Christmas stocking.
Almost two-thirds of Couch members who took part were travelling within New Zealand or overseas to be together as a family during the Christmas and New Year period.
Nearly all people who took part spent Christmas Day with their children. A large number also spent Christmas Day with their partner, parents and/or siblings.
Places where people were holidaying
Couch members planned to holiday in nearly every corner of New Zealand over the summer. The most popular places for Couch members to spend their holidays were Auckland, Coromandel, Northland, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough Sounds and Hawke’s Bay. Quite a few people were planning a camping trip around New Zealand and a few people were holidaying overseas. Destinations included Australia (the most popular place), Indonesia, England, Fiji, India, Italy, Malaysia, Rarotonga, Sri Lanka, Thailand and USA. Some Couch members were staying at home and going on day trips to local beaches or parks. At the time of the poll, some people had not decided where they were going – they were either “waiting for inspiration to strike” or “making it up as they went along”.
Comments from Couch members
For many Couch members, spending time with family and friends at Christmas is particularly important. Associated with this is being kind to one another, eating good food and relaxing.
Christmas is special time to me and my whanau as a time to be together and be kind to one another.
…Christmas is, for my family, a time for celebrating family and friends, exchanging small meaningful gifts, eating together, and relaxing.
Christmas is a time to relax and be and reflect on the past year and consider the future, we like to share it with family and friends and to be as relaxed as possible.
Some people told us how they celebrate the religious significance of Christmas, but many feel that the original Christian reason for celebrating has been lost.
I think that a lot of people have lost real focus of Christmas as well as spending time with family, the real meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus and celebrating his birth.
Thinking of others who might be alone or in need was raised. This could involve members working in a foodbank, making donations to charity or inviting people over for a meal.
Playing non-stop cricket, pulling out the old, hard-to-read recipe books passed from one generation to the next and making special dishes were special family traditions mentioned. It was also interesting to hear from people who have brought Christmas traditions from other countries to New Zealand.
My husband’s parents are Dutch and in Holland Boxing Day is regarded as ‘the second Christmas Day’ and we always have a BBQ together on the evening of 26 December. His family still practices Catholicism and goes to church on Christmas but he and I are atheists so we no longer attend religious services.
Although our poll shows that most people exchange gifts at Christmas, many Couch are concerned about the increasing commercialisation of Christmas and feel that it focuses too much on buying expensive gifts, eating lots of food and drinking alcohol. One member is encouraged to see the promotion of more ecofriendly gifts and thoughts. For many Couch members, the pleasure of spending time with family and friends is overshadowed by the stress resulting from pressure to produce a fancy Christmas Day.
Christmas is a special time in our family where we consider the gift of giving of ones time and thoughts is more important than material things.
I would like to see more emphasis on this in the future taking alot of commercialism out of Christmas and giving it back its value and soul ie caring, thoughtfulness and awareness of those we hold dear to us.
Indeed, for many Couch members Christmas is a difficult time because of the extra financial burden it imposes on them.
Christmas creates a lot of budget blow-out especially if you are relying on other income such as child support that doesn’t arrive in full amount.
Summer holidays are considered a luxury item and not ‘essential’ for beneficiaries.
People also told us about other worries associated with Christmas. For example, separation or divorce can mean that people are not able to spend Christmas with their children or in-laws. Having to working over the holidays can also mean that people have very limited time to spend together or that they can’t travel to join other family members. Some Couch members told us they were saddened by bereavement or disability and could not enjoy Christmas for that reason.
Despite these many difficulties and sadnesses, we found that many people still have a sense of hopefulness and optimism.
These days, it seems Christmas brings more stress than peace. I try to shut my eyes to the media hype as I believe this makes a lot of people feel bad about their own lives versus the ‘ideal’ images presented to them… I try to see this time as a welcome summer break, and have ‘bought out’ of a lot of traditions like sending cards, or sending presents to family members who only ever get in touch at this time. I’m trying to make this time ‘real’ for my family, and not about facades or satisfying other people’s expectations.
For those people who were struggling over Christmas last year we hope that they found some enjoyment and that things will be better for them this year. Further, for the two members who told us they were expecting babies over the summer, we hope that all went well and we look forward to hearing more from them in the future!
Finally, thank you for participating!
The Families Commission is moved by your comments and insights and thanks you sincerely for sharing these with us. We also want to thank you for all the good wishes you sent us.
By sharing your Christmas and holiday plans with us you are helping us to understand more about New Zealand family life. This understanding will ultimately help us in our future work activities.
