Survey: Spring Festival expenses becoming a burden

A survey on expense budgets for the upcoming Spring Festival said that the high expenses of the holiday have become a financial burden for some.

More than 41 percent of survey participants said their expenses for the festival exceeded their monthly after-tax income, while about 2 percent said expenses exceeded 6 months of their after-tax income. Nearly 10 percent said they had to borrow money to cover festival expenses.

More than 37 percent of respondents expected their expenses for Spring Festival will exceed 10,000 yuan.

Almost 70 percent of respondents said they need to give gift money to seniors in the family, with 26.8 percent saying it is the biggest expenditure for Spring Festival, the survey said.

More than 99% of people born after 1985 say they have to distribute gift money to children during the Spring Festival holiday, according to the survey. Nearly half of those surveyed said they will spend more than 2,000 yuan on gift money, with about 15 percent expecting to shell out more than 5,000 yuan.

For young people born after 1990, cash gifts for weddings make up a big part of their expenditure. About 10 percent of those born after 1990 chose cash gifts as the largest expense for the Spring Festival holiday, much higher than those of other age groups.

High expenses during the holiday are partly due to spending habits the Chinese have long kept, analysts say. Chinese usually have frugal tendencies, but when Spring Festival comes, it sets off an impulse for crazy shopping.

Nearly 40 percent of respondents said they tend to spend at will during the Spring Festival holiday, the survey showed. The Spring Festival falls on Feb 5 this year.