• In the North West 8.7%, or 0.45 million people eat Sunday lunch.
• In Scotland it is 11.5% or 0.46 million people.
• In West Midlands the figure are 12.6% or 0.68 million people.
• Yorkshire & Humberside 14.2% or 0.55 million people.
• North East 14.6% or 0.29 million.
• London 16.1% or 0.91 million.
• East Midlands 16.6% or 0.54 million
• South East 17.6% or 1.10 million
• Wales 17.8% or 0.40 million and
• South West 22.4% or 0.87 million people.

The pattern of eating at home on Sundays, by region across the UK

Nicola Austin, Director of Consultancy at Future Foundation comments: "This reflects different ways of getting friends and family together. While there is a distinct north-south divide, the truth is that 'Sunday lunching' is in decline across the country as other social occasions have become more important.

"At the same time, the nature of Sundays has changed: where once they were about taking it easy with friends and family, we now have greater choice about how to spend our time as a host of alternative activities have become available - particularly eating out and shopping. The other shift is that for many, Sundays now involve a day at work, rather than an afternoon around the dinner table."

Interestingly the research also showed that the most popular period for socialising in the home has shifted. In 1961 Sunday afternoons were the most popular period while today the most desirable time is on Friday evenings when socialising at home has doubled against the same period 40 years ago.

Austin continues: “The increase of socialising in the home over the last 40 years is clear but it is now taking place on weekday evenings, particularly on Friday evenings. Work-nights are livelier than they used to be and people are choosing to have friends round at home. Nowadays almost half of the British population are regularly hosting dinner parties.”

Increasingly busy lifestyles, more flexible working practices and a record number of women now working in the UK¹ are all potential factors contributing to this change. Entertaining friends and family has become more popular because of larger disposable incomes, increased spending on our homes as well as a desire to show off our homes to others.

Wine is one of the key areas that has benefited from this change in socialising habits. Currently 83% of wine sales in the UK are through the off-trade, a growth of 3.1% in volume in the last year alone compared to the on-trade which decreased by 3.4% in the same period.

Austin concludes “Friday’s are perhaps the most popular night of the week because it marks the end of the working week and the freedom that the weekend brings, when people really can begin to wind down and enjoy more time with family or friends over a glass of wine.”

To read related articles about this research click on the links below:
Friday night is the new time for the Sunday roast
How Friday saved the Sunday roast

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Isabel Shirley, Amy Freeman or Gillian Stark at Seventy Seven PR
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About E&J Gallo Winery
E. & J. Gallo Winery has become the world's foremost winery in the art and science of grape growing and winemaking; and in the distribution and marketing of wines worldwide. Headquartered in Modesto, California, E. & J. Gallo Winery is the second largest winery in the world in terms of volume. Gallo International, with regional headquarters in Tokyo, London, Miami, Hong Kong and Toronto sells more than 12 million cases of wine in 93 countries. Gallo Winery remains a fully, family-owned business, with three generations of Gallo family members working within various facets of the company including winemaking, viticulture, production and marketing.