Women spend 300 hours preparing for Christmas: UK study

London, Nov 18 (ANI): A UK study has suggested that women spend an average of 300 hours, or 38 working days, preparing for Christmas.

They spend more than a third of the time searching shops and the Internet for perfect gifts for partners, relatives and friends, and on average they start researching for presents, food and decorations in the middle of October.

The study, by Clothes Show Live, also suggested that women consistently prefer to get a head start on bagging the best food, presents and decorations.

"It's true what they say. Women do spend a lot of time worrying about Christmas," the Daily Mail quoted Gavin Brown, of the Clothes Show Live, as saying.

"More time and money is spent on picking those special festive gifts for friends, family and partners alone, not to mention finding that perfect party outfit," he said.

The study, which questioned more than 3,000 women, also found regional differences in Christmas shopping habits.

Women in Manchester spend the most time shopping, browsing the stores for an average of 124 hours and spending about 320 pounds each.

Londoners spend the least amount of time, and set aside just 77 hours looking for gifts, but spend 387 pounds on average - the highest amount in the country.

In Cardiff, female shoppers spend 308 pounds and 123 hours, while in Birmingham, women shell out just 281 pounds in 89 hours of shopping time. (ANI)