PA Life readers reveal how much they spend on a Secret Santa

It’s the age old question: how much money is socially acceptable to spend on an office Secret Santa? Plenty of factors come into play when attempted to crack this conundrum, from social to financial, and it’s a debate that can lead to arguments, broken friendships and even office bans on the yearly tradition – so what is the definitive answer?

Some PA Life readers are happy to spend £20 and beyond a good Secret Santa for their colleagues, but more of us admitted they’d rather just not participate at all, with nearly one in five revealing they’d ‘rather not’.

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Taking the majority with 56%, the clear winning answer was to spend around £10. The news comes following reports that 68% of British workers are happy participating in a work Secret Santa, with many saying they were comfortable paying between £10-£20.

“The key to a fun and inclusive Secret Santa is allowing employees to opt-out anonymously, rather than in a group discussion or company email thread,” said David Ingram, Managing Director of marketing agency Bring Digital, one of the thousands of British companies across the country to adopt the tradition. “Setting a budget also helps to prevent an imbalance in spending, which can lead to some employees feeling disheartened or excluded.”

To combat price differences, many offices enforce strict rules about not spending too much or too little. Here at PA Life we spend £15 on our Secret Santa, is that too much or not enough for your festive spirit? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for our next Twitter poll!