[CAUTION: The following story contains spoilers some readers may not appreciate.]. After two years of a pandemic-created dip in demand, the market for Santa Clauses skyrocketed in 2022, with an increase in pay jumping even higher.
As the New York Times reports, the average rate for people paying to have someone portray Santa Claus at parties, stores or other events [I did mention spoilers were included]–but only when the real St. Nick was unavailable, of course–has jumped more than 35% from the 2020 pandemic year. Part of the increase is due to increased demand, but also a reduced number of Claus cosplayers available to fill gigs.
The increased demand is due to the narrow window in which most children hold on to the Santa folk tale and the ability of parents to capture the photo of their precious little child kicking in screaming in the lap of a strange man in a red felt costume that smells vaguely of urine, vomit and chocolate.