Nine in Ten (89%) Americans say it’s Important to Celebrate
Birthdays, Feel Special when Others Put Lots of Energy into
Celebrating their Birthday (85%)
Six in Ten (62%) Americans Make a Wish when they Blow Out their
Birthday Candles
Public Release Date: August 12, 2015
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Nine in Ten (89%) Americans say it’s Important to Celebrate
Birthdays, Feel Special when Others Put Lots of Energy into
Celebrating their Birthday (85%)
Six in Ten (62%) Americans Make a Wish when they Blow Out their
Birthday Candles
Toronto, ON – Americans of all stripes like to celebrate the birthdays of loved ones, with
nine in ten (89%) saying that it is ‘important’ (57% very/32% somewhat) to celebrate the
birthdays of their family, friends and those close to them, according to a new Ipsos poll
conducted on behalf of Enbridge. Just one in ten (11%) say celebrating birthdays isn’t
important (3% not at all/8% not very).
In fact, eight in ten (79%) ‘agree’ (34% strongly/44% somewhat) that ‘with life getting more
complicated, it’s even more important to celebrate life’s simple moments, like a birthday’,
while two in ten (21%) ‘disagree’ (6% strongly/15% somewhat). Women (83%) and young
Americans 18-34 (86%) are especially likely to agree.
The poll has also revealed that one in four (26%) of Americans say that celebrating the
birthdays of family, friends and those close to them is even ‘more important’ now than it
used to be for them, including 39% of those aged 18-34. This compares to fewer (21%)
Americans who believe that celebrating birthdays is ‘less important’ than it used to be.
Among those who say it’s more important to them, two in three (65%) say it’s because as they
grow older, those close to them are even more important to them and worth celebrating.
© Ipsos Reid
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Others say that birthdays are becoming more important because they think about their own
life and the special moments that people celebrated with them (43%), that it’s nice to slow
down and celebrate with loved ones (41%), that with each passing year they grow closer to
those close to them (41%), and because in a very digital world, they miss personal
connections with people (22%) or some other reason (6%).
Celebrating birthdays is so popular among Americans that birthdays are second only to
Christmas as the holiday that is their favourite to celebrate. While half (50%) of Americans
say that Christmas is their favourite, two in ten (18%) say birthdays – either the birthdays of
others (8%) or their own birthday (9%) – is their favourite to celebrate. Birthdays even place
ahead of Thanksgiving (16%), Halloween (8%), New Year’s Eve (4%), Easter (2%), and
Valentine’s Day (2%).
Putting Energy into Making a Birthday Special…
Nine in ten (85%) Americans ‘agree’ (44% strongly/41% somewhat) that they ‘feel special
when someone puts a lot of energy into celebrating’ their birthday (including 89% of adults
aged 18-34 and 86% of those 55 and older), while just two in ten (15%) ‘disagree’ (6%
strongly/9% somewhat) that they feel this way. Moreover, 70% ‘agree’ (27% strongly/43%
somewhat) that they ‘like to put a lot of energy into celebrating the birthdays of those close to
them’ (including 75% of women and 84% of young Americans between 18-34), while 30%
‘disagree’ (9% strongly/21% somewhat) that they enjoy making a big deal of others’
birthdays.
It’s a source of pride for many: eight in ten (78%) ‘agree’ (35% strongly/43% somewhat) that
they ‘put special energy into always remembering the birthdays of their family and friends’,
while fewer than a quarter (22%) ‘disagree’ (6% strongly/16% somewhat) that they put
© Ipsos Reid
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special energy into remembering to celebrate their loved ones on their birthday. Women
(84%) are more likely than men (71%) to say they put special energy in remembering to
celebrate their loved ones birthdays.
Nearly half (48%) of Americans ‘agree’ (14% strongly/34%somewhat) that they’re
‘disappointed’ when others ‘don’t put in the energy or effort’ for their birthday, while a slim
majority (52%) shrugs it off, ‘disagreeing’ (21% strongly/31% somewhat) that it disappoints
them. Women (53%) are more likely than men (43%) to express this disappointment, as well
as adults aged 18-34 (69%) compared to those aged 35-54 (45%) and 55 and older (34%).
Perhaps unknowingly disappointing others, four in ten (40%) confess (14% strongly/27%
somewhat) that they ‘don’t put much effort into celebrating birthdays’, while six in ten (60%)
’disagree’ (25% strongly/35% somewhat), suggesting that they do put energy into celebrating
the birthdays of others. Men (47%) and those employed full-time (44%) are most likely to say
they don’t put much effort into celebrating birthdays, likely fueling the disappointment of
the 48% who are upset when their birthday isn’t celebrated with great energy.
For many Americans, the effect of a well-celebrated birthday isn’t just for one day, but carries
over to the rest of the year: half (53%) ‘agree’ (16% strongly/37% somewhat) that celebrating
their birthday ‘re-energizes’ them for the coming year, while the other half (47%) ‘disagrees’
(17% strongly/30% somewhat) that this is the case.
When it comes to celebrating their own birthday, most say it’s important to share it with
family (86% total - 51% strongly/34% somewhat) and friends (71% total – 30% strongly/42%
somewhat). Eight in ten (79%) say it’s important (34% strongly/45% somewhat) to them
when others make their birthday extra special, and two in three (66%) say that keeping
birthday traditions is important to them (28% strongly/38% somewhat).
© Ipsos Reid
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Birthdays and Social Media…
Interestingly, while for a majority (64%) it’s not important (30% not at all/34% not very), four
in ten (36%) Americans says that when it comes to celebrating their own birthday, sharing it
through social media is important to them (10% very/26% somewhat). Adults ages 18-34
(51%) and people with children in the household (45%) are most likely to say so.
Two in three (66%) Americans ‘agree’ (21% strongly/45% somewhat) that ‘getting birthday
greetings and messages on social media’ makes them feel special, while one in three (34%)
‘disagrees’ (14% strongly/20% somewhat) that it makes them feel this way. Still, perhaps
feeling a social media greeting lacks a certain effort, a six in ten (59%) ‘agree’ (25%
strongly/34% somewhat) that ‘getting birthday greetings on social media feels impersonal’
and that it’s ‘not the same as a real birthday celebration’. Four in ten (41%) ‘disagree’ (13%
strongly/29% somewhat), believing a social media message is as good as a traditional
greeting.
Traditions and Meaning…
When asked to describe in their own words what birthdays mean to them…
• A majority said something positive (62%), such as experience like a celebration (22%),
being alive (12%), or activities to make the day special (9%).
• One quarter (25%) said something about family and friends, like spending time with
family, friends and loved ones (21%) or honouring their family and friends as being
important to them (5%).
• Two in ten (21%) expressed a feeling, such as love/happiness (5%), blessings/health
(5%), or a chance for renewal (4%).
© Ipsos Reid
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• Half (45%) had a neutral assessment of birthdays, simply mentioning it’s simply
getting one year older (19%), made it through another year (11%), or that it’s just
another day (7%).
• Just 7% mentioned something negative about birthdays, including getting closer to
death (2%), or not as important (2%).
Birthdays are a time of traditions, and the ultimate tradition for Americans is the birthday
cake and blowing out the candles (25%). Others say their favourite birthday traditions
include: going out for dinner (16%), spending time with family and friends (14%), eating with
family (7%), birthday wishes/singing happy birthday (7%), being with friends (5%), opening
presents (4%), having a good time in general (3%), eating ice cream (3%), birthday cards (3%),
partying (2%), getting pampered (2%), getting drinks (1%), or relaxing/sleeping in (1%)
among other things. Just 16% of Americans say they don’t have a most important birthday
tradition.
The cake has a special place in the birthdays of Americans. In fact, six in ten (61%) Americans
say that having a cake makes their birthday more special – with women (67%) being more
likely than men (55%) to say this is the case. Adults 18-34 (72%) are also more likely to say
this is the case compared to those aged 35-54 (62%) or 55 and older (51%).
Six in ten (62%) of Americans still make a birthday wish when blowing out the candles, with
women (67%) being more likely than men (56%) to admit they do, as are younger adults
(73%) compared to those between the ages of 35 and 54 (59%) and older (55%) adults.
Thinking about what they wish for, half (49%) wish for personal happiness, with others
wishing for the happiness of others (38%), personal health (33%), health of others (31%),
personal success (29%), a better world (25%), or some other wish (11%).
© Ipsos Reid
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These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between July 10 and July 14, 2015, on
behalf of Enbridge. For this survey, a sample of 1,045 Americans from Ipsos' online panel was
interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's
composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results
intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a
credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out
of 20, had all American adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the
population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not
limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
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For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
For full tabular results, please visit our website at www.ipsos-na.com. News Releases are
available at: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/
© Ipsos Reid
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