Study finds 43 per cent of parents won't let their kids go trick or treating this Halloween

1 October 2020, 13:28 | Updated: 26 October 2020, 11:22

Would you let your kids out to trick or treat this year? Picture: Getty

By Alice Dear

A new study around Halloween has found how the coronavirus pandemic has changed our behaviour around the spooky holiday.

New research has found that 43 per cent of parents in the UK will not be letting their children out to trick or treat this year amid safety concerns.

No official announcement cancelling Halloween has been made by the Government yet, but the guidelines remain in place, meaning kids travelling from house-to-house for chocolate and sweets probably isn't recommenced at the moment.

The study, carried out by "global platform for getting people’s opinions at scale" Piplsay surveyed 12,067 Brits to find out just how people will be changing their behaviour this year amid the pandemic.

The results found that with 45 per cent of parents were banning their kids from trick or treating, while 22 per cent said they were still not sure.

Other results found that 61 per cent of Brits are not interested in going to any Halloween events or parties this year – even if they were allowed to.

There are still some people who want to get spooky this year, with 32 per cent saying they want Halloween to be celebrated.

55 per cent, however, said they were not looking forward to it.

This research comes after health officials called for trick or treating to be cancelled all together this year.

Los Angeles county's public health director, Dr Barbara Ferrer said: "Trick or Treating, we're highly recommending that it not happen, we don't think it's an appropriate activity during a pandemic."

She added: "You know, there's no guarantee when you go Trick or Treating that your child goes up to a house where the person who opens the door is wearing a face covering.

"When you don't know the people opening the door, there's no guarantee they're not sick and that the candy they're passing out that they've touched may not be safe for you to want your child to be sharing."

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