UK kids still have greater awareness of global celebrations than US kids

One year on from our global celebrations review we posed the question to Gen Alpha once more: how globally minded are you? Using our unique Omnibus tool, we’ve been able to compare responses year-on-year to understand how this generation is changing and evolving.

It comes as no surprise that Christmas and Halloween remain at the top of kids' celebration calendar. Be it a religious, cultural or commercial phenomenon, we know these holidays aren’t disappearing anytime soon, and kids across the UK and US are more excited than ever to mark them.

We’ve also seen Mother's Day hold equal significance within the calendar, impressively sitting within kid’s Top 5 celebrations. Given Mum’s huge influence on kids and teens, her day is celebrated equally in both the UK and US but we are seeing girl vs boy divides on both sides of the pond. UK (74%) and US girls (76%) are more likely to mark this day than UK (67%) and US boys (63%). The same goes for other celebratory days dedicated to loved ones including Valentine’s Day in the UK (64% girl vs 54% boys) and US (72% girls vs. 58% boys). Our Trendspotters have shared the different ways their mums are marking the moment – perhaps this role modelling is speaking louder to girls.

"Mum usually makes us a nice breakfast for Valentine's Day" - Lori, Age 10, UK

“My Mum usually puts a pick heart on my bedroom door and gets me a card.” - Rachel, Age 8, US

But let’s look outside of the Christian holiday calendar to see how globally minded kids are today.

There does seem to be a paradox in awareness for some global celebrations. Despite a larger American Chinese population than British Chinese, UK kids are much more aware (64%) and likely to celebrate (31%) Chinese New Year than their US counterparts (57% awareness, 23% celebrate). In the UK, we know that the Chinese population is more geographically dispersed than other dominant ethnic minority groups. This level of societal integration may be key to driving higher levels of awareness amongst kids today.

"Chinese New Year is the one with all the animals. They pick a different animal every year. I think it might be the ox year." - Jack, Age 12, UK

We also see a flip on St. Patrick's Day celebrations with over half of US kids celebrating it (54%) compared to less than a third in the UK (30%) despite our Irish friends being a stone’s throw away. Our US Trendspotter panel has shed some additional irony on the matter. Rather than marking the day through recognition of St. Patrick himself, their days are centered around leprechauns, all things green and playful pranks. So, although their awareness may be higher, their understanding isn’t quite measuring up.

“Everyone dresses in green for St Patrick's Day - I don't get it" - Alex, Age 13, US

"On St Patrick's Day we wear green and prank each other" - Evie, Age 12, US

Last year we reported a stark difference in UK and US kids' awareness of various non-Christian cultural and religious celebrations. Unfortunately, a year on, the low levels of US kids' awareness remain virtually unchanged. Except for Hannukah (UK 31% vs. 50% US), UK kids have greater awareness overall. This is true for Ramadan (UK 45% vs. 26% US), Diwali (UK 39% vs 19% US) and Eid (UK 35% vs. 12% US).

Despite the differences between the UK and US, kids are aware and are celebrating a range of cultural moments. Whether it’s being driven by the national curriculum, TikTok FYPs or the latest Disney movie, there is an opportunity to increase this further, particularly for those in the US.

If you’d like to know more about what your brand could do, please get in touch and use our brain.