So, how much time do parents spend talking to their children? Most parents wish they could spend more time with their children. So how much time do parents spend talking to their kids? Let’s face it, it cost a lot of money to raise kids today. Sometimes because of this, both parents need to work to pay the bills. In fact, many parents often have to work two jobs.
As you can imagine, this can make a mom and dad feel guilty because they know that the best gift they can give children is their time. You can be sure that you are not alone.
We hope you will find this research helpful.
How much time do parents actually spend with their kids?
First, here is the good news. A recent study tells us that parents today spend more time with their kids than they did 50 years ago. The article tells us that “in 1965, mothers spent a daily average of 54 minutes on child care activities, while moms in 2012 averaged almost twice that at 104 minutes per day.”
Apparently, parents that went to college spend even more time with their children. Moms that went to college spend about 123 minutes daily on child care, compared with 94 minutes spent by mothers that never went to college.
How much time do parents spend talking to their children?
A recent poll in the UK of 2,000 parents shows that even though they spend more than eight hours a day together, families talk for less than10 per cent of their time together.
Here is the breakdown:
- Before school: Nine minutes
- After school: 14 minutes
- Dinner time: 11 minutes
- Bedtime: 10 minutes
Total time talking with children: Only 64 minutes
How can this help you to use your family time wisely?
First, many families don’t eat dinner together. Meal time is a great way to spend time with your children and allow them to talk about their day at school.
Yes, finding time to get everyone together is a challenge. Yet, we can often find a way to do things… IF we really want to. Isn’t that true?
Perhaps start with having dinner together one night a week to build this new habit. Furthermore, make it a “no phone or tablet” dinner. Have you noticed how electronics equipment has a way of killing conversation? It seems like many families that eat together do so while on their phones. Due to this they may be present in body only.
Second, family talk time has to be scheduled or other things will quickly take precedence. This may mean planning a game night during the week. Other families plan a family night to go out together and do something. Some families have found turning the TV off has helped their communication. In fact, some have seen such a difference that they permanently got rid of the television set!
Our children are only young once. We have a small window of opportunity to spend time with them and to help guide them to become healthy, responsible young adults.
The only way we can understand what they are thinking about is to create a safe haven for free communication.
Making more time to talk together as a family is a great place to start. Why not talk to your children about our holiday shop fundraiser?
