Memorial Day weekend, widely considered the official start of summer and vacation season, is right around the corner, yet the latest Fox News national survey finds many are not taking a vacation this year — largely due to finances.
The poll, released Wednesday, finds a majority of registered voters are planning to stay put this summer. Their reason? Money.
Of the 55% who are not going away, 73% don’t have enough money to do so, while 15% don’t have the time.
In 2010, the last time the question was asked, just half of voters who weren’t going away said it was a money issue (51%) while 20% blamed a lack of time.
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Of course, money also plays a big role among those who are going away (42%). Nearly three-quarters say higher prices are affecting their travel plans, including nearly one-third who say prices matter a great deal.
In general, the poll also finds that over 8 in 10 (84%) say gas prices are a problem for their family, including 49% who say they are a major problem. Grocery prices are an even-greater concern with 89% saying they are a problem (62% a major problem).
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For comparison, 8 in 10 also say health care (44% a major problem) and utility costs (44% major) are a problem, while for another three-quarters, housing costs are the issue (47% major problem). Far fewer voters (43%) call student loans problematic (24% major).
There are demographic differences when it comes to summer travel plans.
Over half of college-educated voters (52%), voters under age 30 (51%), and those in households making $50,000 or more annually (51%) are more likely to travel than not this summer. By contrast, at least 6 in 10 women (60%), voters without a college degree (62%), those ages 65 and over (64%), and those in households making less than $50,000 annually (67%) are not planning a vacation.
There are rare similarities among partisans as roughly equal majorities of Democrats (52%), Republicans (56%), and independents (60%) say they’re not traveling this summer.
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Conducted May 10-13 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,126 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (133) and cellphones (700) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (293). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population.
