With the Christmas fast approaching, a new study shows that many of us are stressing about the festive season, particularly the financial side of it.

The survey of 1,000 people found that one-in-two adults (49 per cent) are stressing about Christmas, with the vast majority of these (76 per cent) being anxious about pressures on personal finances at Christmas.

The sandwich generation (women between the ages of 32 and 50 juggling household budget and family duties) carry the biggest seasonal stress burden (76% compared to an average of 63% of older and younger adults).

These women mentioned the pressures of shopping, cooking, cleaning and entertaining on top of coping with the role of being 'chief financial officer' for their household as their main Christmas stresses.

Advice for coping better with Christmas stress includes sharing the Christmas workload, cutting your gift list and setting a budget for gifts.

The survey was carried out by Alka Seltzer.

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