Almost 6 in 10 age-appropriate children will not be trick or treating this year.

COVID-19 appears to be having a significant impact on Halloween plans this year. Amongst parents with age-appropriate children for trick or treating, just 42% said that at least one of their children will be trick or treating this year. This compares to 52% of parents who will not be sending their kids out this year because of COVID-19.

Of interest, most parents are setting guidelines for their kids consistently, as just 1% of parents indicated that at least one of their kids would be trick or treating, while at least one kid would not for COVID-related reasons.

Winnipeg parents most likely to keep kids at home because of COVID-19.

When comparing demographic groups, the biggest difference appears to be how people living in Winnipeg and those living outside Winnipeg are approaching COVID-19. Almost two-thirds (64%) of parents in Winnipeg are not planning on sending their children out for Halloween due to COVID-19, compared to just 29% of parents outside Winnipeg.

Just 1 in 3 households expecting to hand out candy this year.

Overall, just 1 in 3 households (31%) this year are planning on distributing candy, while 41% have decided not to hand out candy due to COVID-19. The other 28% are not handing out candy for reasons unrelated to COVID-19.

However, the biggest indicator of the impact of COVID-19 is for those that did hand out candy last year. In 2019, 65% of households say they handed out candy for Halloween, but looking at their plans for 2020, just 47% of those who handed out candy last year plan on handing out candy this year.

METHODOLOGY

PRA conducted the survey from October 2 - 5, 2020, using its Manitoba Panel. In total, 1,000 Manitobans completed the survey.

Because this sample is a non-probability sample, no error rate can be calculated. A random population survey of this size would yield an error rate of ± 3.1% (19 times out of 20).

As any sample may not represent the population perfectly, PRA corrects statistically for discrepancies in gender, age, and income to ensure that the sample corresponds as closely as possible to Statistics Canada information.

PRA Inc. sponsored these questions independently.
No other organization, public or private, funded this study in whole or in part.
For more information about the research, please contact Nicholas Borodenko, partner, at borodenko@pra.ca
(204) 987-2030 or toll-free at 1-888-877-6744

Research