Business
Holiday spending, especially by Gen Z, is expected to drop this year, survey says
Shoppers at the Walmart Supercenter in Burbank during Walmart’s multi-week Annual Deals Shopping Event in Burbank Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.
Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Holiday shoppers expect to trim the tree and their spending this upcoming season, according to a survey by consulting firm PwC.
Across generations, consumers said they plan to spend an average of $1,552 on holiday gifts, travel and entertainment — which represents a 5% drop from the planned holiday spending average in the year-ago period.
Yet the sharpest decline comes from Generation Z, whose members said they plan to spend 23% less on average than a year ago. That’s the biggest drop of any generation and a significant swing from last year when they said they expected to spend 37% more. Their pullback is also contributing to the overall decline in holiday spending.
“Price is Gen Z’s love language,” said Ali Furman, the U.S. consumer markets industry leader for PwC. “They’ve been raised in an era of rising costs. They’re laser-focused on value and cost transparency. For them, dupes aren’t a downgrade. They’re proof of smart shopping.”
For retailers, Gen Z customers — who span in age from 13 to 29 and have an average age of 22 — are both an opportunity and a challenge, Furman said. As they enter adulthood, they tend to have smaller salaries, new expenses and debt to pay down, she said. Plus, she said, they are experience-driven, often prioritizing concert tickets, hotel stays and plane trips over buying new items, and they’re feeling the pinch as those experiences cost more.
“Entertainment and vacations are taking up more of their wallet than they have, and therefore they have less to spend on holiday,” Furman said.
It’s also been hard for retailers to keep up with young shoppers, who “are the fastest generation to adopt trends and abandon trends,” she said.
For retailers, the survey’s findings highlight the uncertain backdrop for a holiday season that could be shaped, at least in part, by price sensitivity as companies debate how much to absorb and pass on higher tariff costs.
All other generations’ holiday spending expectations were roughly flat compared with a year ago — with the exception of baby boomers, who plan to spend 5% more on average, according to PwC’s survey, which included a representative sample of 4,000 U.S. consumers and was conducted in late June and early July.
Consumers who have already grown weary of the rising cost of living, such as higher utility bills, are also wary of potential price increases from higher tariffs, Furman said. That’s made shoppers pay closer attention to price tags and intensified their resolve to delay or shop early to get the best deal, she said.
“It’s not necessarily the tariffs themselves that are driving sentiment and behavior,” she said. “It’s the threat prices may go up, and people have a consciousness around that.”
Snapchat’s parent Snap has settled a social media addiction lawsuit just days before the landmark case was due to go to trial in Los Angeles.
Terms of the deal were not announced as it was revealed by lawyers at a California Superior Court hearing, after which Snap told the BBC the parties were “pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner”.
Other defendants in the case include Instagram parent Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube, none of which have settled.
The plaintiff, a 19-year old woman identified by the initials K.G.M., alleged that the algorithmic design of the platforms left her addicted and affected her mental health.
In the absence of a settlement with the other parties, the trial is scheduled to go forward against the remaining three defendants, with jury selection due to begin on 27 January.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify, and until Tuesday’s settlement, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was also set to take the stand.
Meta, TikTok and Alphabet did not respond to BBC inquiries seeking reaction to the settlement.
Snap is still a defendant in other social media addiction cases that have been consolidated in the court.
The closely watched cases could challenge a legal theory that social media companies have used to shield themselves.
They have long argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects them from liability for what third parties post on their platforms.
But plaintiffs argue that the platforms are designed in a way that leaves users addicted through choices that affect their algorithms and notifications.
The social media companies have said the plaintiffs’ evidence falls short of proving that they are responsible for alleged harms such as depression and eating disorders.
Adverts for five tanning companies have been banned for making misleading and irresponsible claims about the safety of sunbeds.
Ads for tanning studios The Sun Company, SunShine Co and Tanbox Towcester, as well as for Tan & Deliver Home Hire Sunbeds and Byrokko, which sells products to accelerate tanning, made “a number of problematic claims” about safety, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.
Their misleading and irresponsible claims included that sunbed use is safe or that tanning can be achieved safely, and that sunbeds could boost vitamin D, improve mood and energy levels, and treat health conditions such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), psoriasis and eczema.
The ASA said it found the ads using its AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring system.
The watchdog said the rulings come amid public health concerns about the risks of ultraviolet (UV) exposure and the continued popularity of tanning, with some experts highlighting the role of social media in promoting and normalising sunbed use.
Long-standing advice from the NHS and Cancer Research UK says there is no safe or healthy way to get a tan using UV radiation.
Cancer Research UK warns that sunbeds use high-intensity UV radiation for quick tanning which can damage the DNA in skin cells. This can lead to skin cancer, including melanoma, which is the most serious type.
Too much UV radiation is the third biggest cause of cancer and the main cause of skin cancer in the UK.
The ASA said the ads for all five firms were irresponsible and likely to mislead people for downplaying the risks or presenting tanning as beneficial to health.
Some of the ads also implied that sunbeds could be used to help manage medical conditions, which risked discouraging people from seeking appropriate medical advice or treatment, it added.
All five advertisers have been told the banned ads must not appear again, and that future advertising must not suggest that sunbeds are safe, provide health benefits or can be used to treat medical conditions.
The ASA’s regulatory projects manager, Jess Tye, said: “Given the serious dangers of UV exposure, it’s vital that ads for sunbeds don’t suggest that they’re safe or offer health benefits.
“These rulings demonstrate that information about health in ads must be clear, accurate and responsible.
“Protecting people from misleading or irresponsible ads is at the heart of our work and we’ll take action where ads break the rules by putting people at risk.”
All five firms have been approached for comment.
The Sun Company said: “We acknowledge the ASA’s ruling in relation to an early social media post made shortly after opening. The specific content referenced in the ruling has been removed, and we have reviewed our advertising practices to ensure full compliance going forward.
“Customer transparency and regulatory compliance are important to us.”
A United Airlines airplane at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Nov. 6, 2025.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
United Airlines on Tuesday said it could generate record earnings this year thanks to strong travel demand, with sales of premium seats, business travel and no-frills tickets robust in recent weeks.
The carrier expects adjusted earnings per share of between $12 and $14 this year, in line with the $13.16 analysts expected. For the first quarter, United forecast per-share earnings of $1 to $1.50, while analysts had estimated $1.13 a share.
United joined its rival Delta Air Lines in forecasting potential record earnings for the year. The two carriers accounted for almost all of the U.S. airline industry’s profit in the first nine months of 2025. Other airlines are set to report later this month.
United’s unit revenue fell 1.6% in the fourth quarter compared with last year. Still, United said premium revenue rose 9% in the fourth quarter and 11% for the full year over 2024. Restrictive basic-economy ticket sales, which compete with discount airlines, were up 7% in the last three months of 2025.
Most airlines are chasing revenue from higher-priced tickets like first class, racing to add in fresh, new cabins that command a premium.
Here is what United Airlines reported for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on estimates compiled by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $3.10 adjusted vs. $2.94 expected
- Revenue: $15.4 billion vs. $15.4 billion expected
The carrier’s fourth-quarter profit rose 6% from a year earlier to $1.04 billion, or $3.19 a share, while capacity rose 6.5% from the same period in 2024. Adjusting for one-time items, United posted earnings of $1.01 billion, or $3.10 a share.
United CEO Scott Kirby has expressed confidence in the airline’s growth plan, saying in an interview with CNBC last year that “customers are choosing us.”
The longest-ever government shutdown, in the fourth quarter, hit pretax United results by $250 million, the company said. Air traffic controller shortages sparked delays and dented bookings but travel recovered, airline executives said.
United reported adjusted, full-year 2025 earnings of $10.20 a share, up 8% year over year, after the carrier had previously lowered its forecast for the year. The airline also reported adjusted net income of $3.5 billion for the year, up 6% from a year earlier.
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