Most Americans are fine with giving cash as holiday gifts, new poll finds

"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."

"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. Most say cash makes an acceptable holiday gift"

An AP-NORC poll finds a majority of U.S. adults view cash or gift cards as very acceptable holiday gifts while secondhand or re-gifted items draw far less approval. About six in ten adults endorse cash or gift cards as very acceptable. Acceptance skews higher among younger adults, with roughly two-thirds under 45 calling cash very acceptable versus 55% of those 45 and older. Forty-four percent of Americans say they will not stay up to greet 2026, including about half of adults 45 and older and roughly one-third of adults under 45. Individual anecdotes reflect older people who still prefer giving gifts and younger people who feel holidays are less special.

Read at Fast Company