Americans Plan To Spend Slightly More On Moms This Year

(Corey Templeton)

Mother’s Day is our nation’s greatest guilt holiday: mothers brought us into the world, raised us, or even both, and we can at least buy them brunch and a handful of tulips, right? Of course! Stuff isn’t a proxy for love, but the National Retail Federation tells us that Americans plan to spend an average of $172.63 each on Mother’ Day festivities this year.

Mother’s Day isn’t about buying stuff for only our own personal mothers, of course, 6,285 people took this year’s phone survey, and they named some other people who they celebrate on that day. These included wives, sisters, grandmothers, daughters, friends, godmothers, and “other relatives,” which probably includes stepmothers and aunts. Shoppers said that they plan to spend about $8 on cards for the holiday, and 80% of them planned to buy at least one card.

67% of shoppers plan to buy flowers: while Valentine’s Day is the biggest holiday for giving flowers, Mother’s Day is the biggest holiday for having flowers delivered from afar. (Here’s our guide from earlier this year on how to get the freshest and most beautiful flowers for your money: lessons from Valentine’s Day still apply.)

Other odd bits from the survey? 44% of participants plan to give their mother figures gift cards for the holiday, and 14% plan to give them some kind of consumer electronics.

FAMILIES SPENDING MORE THAN EVER ON MOM, ACCORDING TO NRF SURVEY [NRF]