There has always been a discussion between people about deciding if Valentine’s Day is a real holiday like the others celebrated throughout the year. Some could argue that it is a true holiday since we celebrate it, while others aren’t so convinced about it being a holiday just because people celebrate it.
Valentine’s Day is a day about celebrating love with loved ones, usually with one’s partner or significant other. People would sometimes give their loved ones gifts of chocolate, balloons, stuffed animals, bouquets of flowers, or even the gift of a lovely dinner at a nice restaurant. However, not everyone believes in this “holiday” and just treats it as a normal day, which most believe it is just any normal day.
According to a poll on YouGov about Valentine’s Day from 2022, it is found that the majority of U.S. adult citizens (58%) don’t think Valentine’s Day is a real special occasion. Thirty percent say it is, with a close equal percentage of men (31%) and women (30%) believing it is a real holiday. Adults under thirty years of age are more likely to say that Valentine’s Day is a real special occasion, opposed to thirty to forty-four year olds, forty-five to sixty-four year olds and older.
Although 30% of Americans believe Valentine’s Day is a true holiday like the others, the data suggests that it still ranks below every other major holiday. Labor Day is the only holiday Valentine’s Day could have been more popular than, but even this holiday ranks higher than Valentine’s Day. Basically every single other holiday in the year ranks higher than Valentine’s Day. From the beginning of New Year’s Eve to the end of Christmas, each ranks higher in popularity than this holiday.
According to a 2022 article on YouGov called, “Valentine’s Day ranks behind just about every major holiday among Americans,” holidays were ranked as follows:
Prefers This Holiday: Undecided: Prefers Valentine’s Day:
Labor Day: 43%/ 21%/ 35%
Halloween: 54%/ 16%/ 30%
Memorial Day: 53%/ 21%/ 26%
Father’s Day: 53%/ 22%/ 25%
New Year’s Eve: 59%/ 17%/ 24%
Fourth of July: 64%/ 16%/ 20%
Mother’s Day: 65%/ 18%/ 17%
Thanksgiving: 79%/ 10%/ 11%
Christmas: 79%/ 11%/ 10%
As shown above, every other major holiday is more popular and more believed to be a true holiday than Valentine’s Day. Studies show that even though they believe it is not an official holiday, women are twice as likely to show disappointment in a partner not doing anything for Valentine’s day. Thirty-four percent of U.S. adult citizens have been disappointed by their partner for doing nothing for this holiday, while 58% show no disappointment and 8% are undecided. Many people believe that it is a holiday due to a celebration of love, but not an official holiday such as Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Valentine’s Day may not be an official holiday by any means, but it is still a widely celebrated holiday with love, good times, and chocolate. Flowers, roses being the most popular, are grown specifically for this day, usually around 224 million roses for Valentine’s Day, so it is still a very popular holiday, also due to the fact that men are usually the biggest spenders when it comes to buying gifts for their partner.
So while it’s not as popular as Christmas, Halloween, or even the Fourth of July (all official holidays), it is still a widely accepted day for the celebration of love.
