SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - It’s nearly that time of year to celebrate all things dads.
Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, and some of you may be wondering what to get your father.
Plenty of people shop for a thoughtful gift.
“I do let the kids pick stuff out, so trying to like gauge what they feel like is important and then try to find those things that they connect with,” Ashley Piper, who was visiting San Diego, said.
According to a new annual survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics, a group that tracks consumer data, people are expected to be shelling out a lot of money for Father’s Day.
“It's nice that people are spending money on fathers because usually Mother's Day overshadows Father's Day for the most part,” Stephan Thomas, who was visiting San Diego, said.
“I was a little bit surprised because I thought that with the pressure that the consumers are under with inflation and other issues that they might cut back,” Dr. Alan Gin of the University of San Diego said.
Gin, who is an economics professor, spoke with him about the National Retail Federation and Proposer’s report, which surveyed nearly 8,000 people.
It anticipates Father’s Day spending to hit $27.9 billion, passing last year’s record of $24 billion.
“It's a big number, I mean, up over 10% compared to the year before,” Gin said. “One possibility is that we have what some people call a K-shaped economy, where people at the upper end are doing well, and then a lot of people are being squeezed into the lower end.”
This new report shows consumers expect to spend about $227 dollars on dads this Father’s Day compared to about $200 last year.
It breaks down that some of the more popular gifts are greeting cards, clothing, a special outing, and gift cards.
“Something I know they're really going to use, or maybe even some- I don't know if they need new socks, clothes, anything that they probably don't care to go out and shop for themselves,” Justin Williams, who was visiting San Diego, said.
The report also showed that some also plan to gift an experience as well.
Gin tells me the expenses from those experiences could also be a reason for such a big number when it comes to Father’s Day spending.
“People may be indulging then in big experiences, big expensive experiences. Again, that's largely people at the upper end. At the lower end, what we found is that the consumers are going into more debt,” Gin said. “So again, people are prioritizing things that they want to, to celebrate Father's Day and they'll even go into debt running up credit cards then in order to do so.”
