Will New Year’s Eve be noisy or quiet? What are the top resolutions for 2025? The AP-NORC poll has the answers

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NEW YORK (AP) – If you’re planning to ring in the new year quietly at home, you’re not alone.

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Most American adults intend to celebrate New Year’s Eve at home, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

“As I’ve gotten older these past few years, it’s like if I don’t make it to midnight, it’s not a big deal, you know?” said Carla Woods, 70, of Vinton, Iowa.

Almost 2 in 10 will be celebrating at a friend or family member’s home, and just 5% plan to go out to celebrate at a bar, restaurant or organized event, the survey found.

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But many American adults will celebrate the New Year in a different way – by making a resolution. More than half say they will make at least one decision by 2025.

There is optimism about the coming year, although more than half do not expect positive change. Almost 4 in 10 say 2025 will be a better year for them personally. About one-third do not expect a big difference between 2024 and 2025, and about one-third think 2025 will be a worse year than 2024.

Free New Year’s Eve programs for many

Kourtney Kershaw, a 32-year-old bartender in Chicago, often fields questions from customers and friends about upcoming New Year’s Eve events. He said that this year, it tends to be low.

“Most of the people I’ve talked to over the years want to get out, but they don’t know what to do because they haven’t received anything or things are too expensive,” he said. said. “Party packages or entry fees are like a turn-off, especially with the global climate and how much it costs.”

As expected, young people are more likely to ring in the New Year at a bar or at an organized event — nearly one in 10 US adults under 30 say they plan to do so. But almost 3 in 10 adults _ aged 60 and over – say they will not celebrate the start of 2025 at all.

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Anthony Tremblay, 35, of Pittsburgh, rarely goes out to celebrate the arrival of the new year, but this year he has something special in store: He and his wife will travel through Ireland.

“I don’t do anything too crazy on New Years, usually. So this is definitely a change,” he said. “I wanted to do something different this year, so I did.”

Woods will be working New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. He answers calls to the Iowa Warmline, a confidential, no-nonsense hotline for people with mental health or substance abuse problems.

“Holidays are really hard for people, so I don’t mind working,” she said. “I’m passionate about it because I have mental health issues in my family so being able to help people is beneficial to me.”

Young Americans are more likely to make a decision

Every New Year’s Eve reignites the eternal debate about resolutions. Most American adults say they intend to make a New Year’s resolution of some kind, but millennials and Gen Z are more likely to be on board — nearly two-thirds expect to do so, compared to half of adults. Women are also more likely than men to say they will set a 2025 goal.

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Tremblay hopes to lose weight and focus more on self-care _ more sleep, meditation and breathing. “It’s almost a good year to focus on mental health,” he said.

Many others agree. About 3 in 10 adults make choices that involve exercise or healthy eating. About one in four said they would make a decision that included downsizing and the same number said they would decide to make changes around financial or mental health priorities.

Woods’ resolutions are to stay social and active. As a mental health counselor, she knows those are the keys to happiness in 2025 and beyond: “Probably one of my biggest resolutions is to try to make sure I hang out with people, try to go out at least once a week – go out and have a coffee. or do something with a friend. That is not only physical but also mental health part.”

Kershaw, the bartender, says weight loss and better health are the top resolutions he hears people make. “Mental health is new, but I think it’s up there with general health,” she said.

He prefers goal-oriented decisions and, in this case, is to travel and see the whole world: “I don’t know if that’s really a decision, but that’s the goal I set for myself.”

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And how will you welcome the arrival of 2025? Usually, he takes an all-nighter and stays at home watching movies with snacks, but this year Kershaw has a different plan, perhaps one of the things to do in Chicago.

The die-hard sports fan will be at Wrigley Field on Tuesday watching the Chicago Blackhawks take on the St. Louis Cardinals. Louis Blues. “Hockey is my favorite sport. So I’ll be watching hockey and bringing in the new year,” he said.

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The AP-NORC survey of 1,251 adults was conducted Dec. 5-9, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.7%.

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Sanders reported from Washington.

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