Edinburgh has been identified as the UK city with the widest gender divide in the Christmas clean-up, with new data revealing that women in the capital are overwhelmingly left to tidy up the festive mess.
A new report from waste removal service Hippo Waste suggests that while Christmas is a time for shared celebration, the aftermath is far from equal in Edinburgh households. The data indicates that 79% of the Christmas clean-up in the city is undertaken by women, with men contributing just 21%.
This figure makes Edinburgh the “most traditional” city in the UK regarding gender roles during the holidays, contrasting sharply with cities like Leeds, Nottingham, and Brighton, where the split is exactly 50-50.
| Rank | City | % Female | % Male | Gender Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edinburgh | 79.07% | 20.93% | +58.14 |
| 2 | Belfast | 73.68% | 26.32% | +47.36 |
| 3 | Southampton | 67.31% | 32.69% | +34.62 |
| 4 | Cardiff | 65.96% | 34.04% | +31.92 |
| 5 | Norwich | 65.91% | 34.09% | +31.82 |
| 6 | London | 63.79% | 36.21% | +27.58 |
| 7 | Newcastle | 62.96% | 37.04% | +25.92 |
| 8 | Glasgow | 62.50% | 37.50% | +25.00 |
| 9 | Manchester | 60.00% | 40.00% | +20.00 |
| 10 | Liverpool | 59.57% | 40.43% | +19.14 |
| 11 | Bristol | 55.36% | 44.64% | +10.72 |
| 12 | Birmingham | 54.13% | 45.87% | +8.26 |
| 13 | Leeds | 50.00% | 50.00% | 0.00 |
| 14 | Nottingham | 50.00% | 50.00% | 0.00 |
| 15 | Brighton | 50.00% | 50.00% | 0.00 |
| 16 | Sheffield | 48.72% | 51.28% | -2.56 |
| 17 | Plymouth | 35.48% | 64.52% | -29.04 |
The Festive Binning Habit
The report, titled the Christmas Household Clean-Up Waste Report 2025, surveyed 2,000 UK adults and highlighted a second concerning trend for the city: waste.
Edinburgh residents are among the most likely in the UK to throw unwanted presents straight into the bin. The study found that 21.3% of people in Edinburgh, more than one in five, admit to discarding gifts after the holidays. This figure is nearly identical to that in Glasgow (21.9%), placing Scotland high on the list of festive wastefulness.
The Secret Santa Problem
Much of this waste appears to be driven by office exchanges. The survey identifies colleagues as the worst gift-givers in the country, with 16.5% of recipients saying presents from workmates are the most likely to be binned.
Gareth Lloyd Jones, managing director at Hippo Waste, commented on the trend of "Office Scrooges" and the environmental impact of these well-meaning but wasteful exchanges.
“These findings reveal the truth: that a majority of workers hate participating in the office Secret Santa,” Jones said. “With 1 in 6 of us admitting to throwing away gifts given by colleagues, we can see how these workplace exchanges are proving to be more wasteful than wonderful.”
Jones added that novelty mugs and jokey stationery often head straight for the dustbin. “The best thing to do would be regift or donate these unwanted gifts, but these statistics serve as a reminder that even small gestures can have a big environmental impact.”
Reducing the Rubbish
For those in Edinburgh looking to avoid the clean-up imbalance and the waste mountain, the advice is clear: communicate about chores beforehand and reconsider the obligatory office gift exchange.
With the festive season approaching, the report serves as a timely reminder that while the giving spirit is high, the cleaning burden and the environmental cost of unwanted plastic tat remain significant issues for the capital.
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