Here’s the age when Christmas becomes more about giving than receiving, according to survey

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What is the "peak age" for Christmas when it comes to giving and receiving gifts?

Of course, the holidays mean much more than just gifts under the tree. But still, it’s the season of giving, and many pull out their wallets to spend money on gifts for loved ones.

As it turns out, there’s a peak age for getting Christmas gifts, as well as an age when people start to give more Christmas presents than they receive, based on gift value.

FILE - Christmas presents under a decorated tree. (Photo by: Pascal Deloche/Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A survey, conducted in November by the coupon and discount platform CouponBirds, included responses from more than 1,000 American adults on their gifting habits.

It also found the ages when people typically receive the fewest gifts, when people give out the most Christmas gifts, and how much people spend, on average.

The ‘peak age’ for Christmas gifts

The best age to be at Christmas is 16 and 17 when it comes to receiving Christmas gifts, according to the survey results.

At this age, people receive an average of 10.5 presents and typically see the biggest overall gain in gift value.

"People aged 16 and 17 receive gifts with an average total value of $815, but people in this group are perhaps not old enough to be buying Christmas presents for others yet," CouponBirds wrote in reporting its findings.

The age when people get the most total Christmas gifts

Perhaps surprisingly, the age when people receive the most total Christmas gifts was found to be between 46 and 52, according to the survey results.

Those in this age group were found to receive an average of 12 Christmas gifts, due to family size generally being at its biggest, CouponBirds said.

"This result is probably due to the fact that people aged between 46 and 52 are the most likely group to have adult children at the same time as still having their own parents alive, as well as aunts and uncles," the platform wrote in reporting the findings. "They also typically receive gifts from spouses and siblings, meaning overall they have more people to receive gifts from."

At the opposite end of the spectrum, people between the ages of 53 and 76 were found to receive the fewest gifts for Christmas, with seven on average at a total of $485.

In addition to the survey responses, CouponBirds said it used data from sources including the U.S. Census and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine at what age, on average, people have children and lose their parents.

"This allowed us to determine how many family members we receive gifts from and buy gifts for at each stage of our lives," the platform said.

It also assumed people start buying gifts for family members at the age of 18.

The age when people start giving more than they receive

When it comes to total Christmas present value, 26 is the age at which people start to give more than they receive, according to the survey results.

Despite receiving the highest number of average gifts, those between the ages of 46 to 52 also give the most and spend the most on presents for others, according to the survey.

People at age 43 see the biggest net loss when it comes to Christmas gifts, spending an average of $755 more on presents than they receive, the survey found. At this age, people give an average of 15 presents compared to the eight they typically receive.

What parents spend on children for Christmas

Nearly half (47.7%) of the Americans with children in the survey said they spend between $50 and $200 per child on Christmas presents, with 6.5% saying they spend between $500 and $1,000 on gifts for each child.

More than half (51.4%) of parents said they give their children two or three Christmas presents each, but 4.2% said they give their children more than 10 gifts each.

This story was reported from Cincinnati.

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