We know the holiday season has begun in earnest, with TV buzzing with extravagant annual offerings from major retail groups. Supermarket giants and major department stores spend millions of dollars each year to increase consumer spending in November and December. After all, these months usually account for more than a fifth of annual sales. But this year in the UK, according to the Guardian, “retailers are struggling to find the right tone for their advertising campaigns as rising prices for essentials, including energy bills and groceries, leave many families penniless.” Marks and Spencer, whose clothing and homeware ads last year featured a Hollywood singer and other extravagant extravaganzas, are highlighting their philanthropy today, just 12 months later, by donating £1 million to charities. Following this, German discount chain Lidl released a holiday advertisement that focused on its own toy bank’s mascot teddy bear, which donates toys to children in need. Despite a cost-of-living crisis that caused the estimated value of UK Christmas sales to drop by 6%, they are still projected at £82.2bn in 2022. Retail Consortium and cover 16 Christmas gifts the average child gets and 7,000 calories the average Brit consumes at Christmas (as much as a lumberjack needs).

The not-so-fun facts, of course, are that poverty, destitution and homelessness are on the rise across the UK, combined with severe stress on people’s physical and mental health. The rush to spend money on a supposedly mythically perfect Christmas is yet another stress for those bearing the brunt of the crisis. In addition, it is not uncommon for holiday spending to come not from real disposable income, but from savings and credit cards. As British television presenter and comedian Richard Osman observes, “the question of class and the boundaries between them is complex, but it boils down to this: the later you open your presents at Christmas, the more the middle class.” you”. Not surprisingly, the lowest-income households spend the bulk of their income around Christmas. Income inequality, in fact, was associated with consumption, which is aimed at promotion and obtaining a higher status.

A study we did at York University shows that consumption to demonstrate/achieve social status may indeed be an important factor in increasing spending in more unequal societies such as the UK. This consumption is linked to household debt, segregation of rich and poor into distinct geographic communities, cycles of unsustainable consumption, and longer commute times to and from work, all of which ultimately contribute to higher carbon emissions.

* Ms. Kate Pickett is Associate Director of the Center for Future Health and Associate Director of the Leverhulme Center for Anthropocene Biodiversity at the University of York. The article was published on the website of the Friedrich Ebert Institute https://www.ips-journal.eu/.