Is it tight not to give the teacher a Christmas present?

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Our note

On 10 October, the Daily Mirror reported a survey for Park Christmas Savings in which more than a third planned to borrow to pay for Christmas. A teacher's present is one of the costs a family might be weighing.

The evidence on teachers' gifts is older. In a 2018 Teacher Tapp survey, 34% of teachers said they had received no Christmas present. Among secondary teachers in the poorest areas, 58% received nothing, against 40% in the wealthiest areas. Among primary teachers in the poorest areas, 14% received nothing.

A 2019 Mumsnet poll covered end-of-year gifts rather than Christmas. Of its 1,006 primary-school parents, 26% gave through a class collection, 44% felt pressure to give, and 41% did not. Most, 65%, gave to show appreciation. In 2018, the Scottish teachers' union EIS called such gifts unaffordable for many families and unnecessary anyway. A thank-you can carry that appreciation without a purchase.