Ukrainians called Christmas a favorite new year's holiday for sociologists. The majority of respondents celebrate it on January 7 and do not support moving the holiday to December 25.
This is evidenced by a survey conducted by the Rating sociological group on December 20-22, Hromadske reports.
So, 49% of Ukrainians called Christmas their favorite new year's holiday, 37% chose New Year's, and another 6% — St. Nicholas Day. But 2% do not like any of these new year's holidays.
Sociologists note that over the past decade, the number of supporters of the new year has been decreasing every year, but the number of Christmas supporters is increasing. Therefore, in 2021, the number of Christmas supporters was exceeding.
New year's celebrations are more popular with residents of the East and South, young people and men. Christmas was much more often chosen in the West by middle-aged and older people, women, as well as believers of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and Greek Catholics. Residents of the central regions and Kyiv equally consider these two holidays to be their favorites.
When do Ukrainians celebrate Christmas?
71% of the surveyed Ukrainians said that they celebrate it on January 7, and only 4% — on December 25. At the same time, 18% of Ukrainians celebrate Christmas twice — on December 25 and January 7 — and their number has increased slightly over the year, sociologists note.
More often, residents of the West, Kyiv and Greek Catholics spoke about the double celebration of Christmas. Only 6% do not celebrate Christmas at all: most of them are among young people and residents of the South and East.
Approximately 26% of respondents support the idea of moving the date of the Christmas celebration from January 7 to December 25. But 58% of respondents are against it. Another 15% said they didn't care, and 1% found it difficult to answer.
Sociologists say that over the past 5 years, the number of those who are against postponing the date of the Christmas celebration has decreased — from 69% to 58%. The number of supporters also increased slightly — from 15% to 26%.
Most of the supporters of the idea of postponing Christmas are in the West and in Kyiv: about 40% of respondents support and almost the same number do not support it. Middle-aged and older Ukrainians, as well as Greek Catholics, are slightly more in favor of this initiative.