Study: Almost all Romanians celebrate Easter but not all of them know what the holiday means

Almost all the respondents to a study carried out by IRES said that they are celebrating Easter (98%), but only 87% know that Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter. Some 8% of respondents said that Christians celebrate the Birth of Jesus, and 5% said that they don’t know. The Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES) carried out the study by telephone between April 10 and April 12, on more than 1,000 people aged over 18. Most respondents (92%) said that the religious holiday traditions are very important to them. Moreover, around two thirds said that there are specific Easter traditions in the areas where they’re living, such as going to church (31%), egg painting (20%), and slaughtering lambs (7%). Over 80% of respondents are usually attending the religious mass celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus, with 72% planning to also attend the mass this year. Most of respondents (75%) said that they would spend Easter at home, 16% plan to stay at home for Easter but go on visits, 5% would go on mini-holidays, and 3% would work. On the other hand, 68% of those who said that they would spend Easter at home also said that they would have people coming over. Most of the guests will be close family members (70%), other relatives (44%), or close friends (35%). Almost half of respondents expect to spend as much money as last year for Easter shopping, 27% believe that they will spend more, and 21% hope to spend less. Most respondents said that the family budget for the Easter meal is RON 500 or less (9% - under RON 100, 50% - between RON 100 and RON 500). Only a quarter of respondents have a budget between RON 500 and RON 1,000, and only one in ten will spend more than RON 1,000. Almost four in ten respondents will buy lamb for Easter, for which they will spend up to RON 200, the study also shows. Meanwhile, the traditional painted eggs will be found in 95% of Romanian households. Most Romanians prefer to color the eggs in red, but they also choose other colors such as yellow, green, and blue. The study also reveals that 70% of respondents know that both the Catholics and the Orthodox celebrate Easter on the same date this year. Moreover, more than three quarters believe that the Catholics and the Orthodox should always celebrate Easter on the same day. Romanians buy some 150 million eggs for Easter Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com