A 6 in 10 kids long for extra time with parents

London - While many children wish they could spend more time with their parents, their moms and dads are struggling to find time to give their full attention to them, a survey has suggested.

Where six in ten youngsters thought their parents spend too much time away from the family, one in eight parents admitted they give their children their full attention only ‘once or twice a week’.

Some parents said they are never able to focus just on their child, according to the survey commissioned by The Family and Parenting Institute.

The charity said the findings showed the extent to which pressures on parents’ time affect family life, the Daily Mail reported.

It added that British parents work longer hours than those in most European countries and are adding to their workload due to economic uncertainty.

Research firm Childwise interviewed 255 children aged six to ten and one parent of each child.

It found that 59 per cent of youngsters wished they could spend more time with their mother or father – rising to three-quarters in London and the south of England.

Only four in ten (42 per cent) wanted to spend more time with their friends and even fewer, seven per cent, wanted to do more with their siblings.
When parents were asked how much time they spent with their children, just over half (52 per cent) said they were able to give their child their full attention at least once every day.
 
But 13 per cent of parents could devote their full attention only ‘once or twice a week’ and two per cent never could. Parents of the oldest children, ten-year-olds, were most likely to admit being unable to give their full attention to their child more than once or twice weekly.

Despite these findings, the survey suggested that parents today spend more time with their children than their own mothers and fathers did.

“Evidence shows children need dedicated time with their parents if they are to realise their potential,” the paper quoted Dr Katherine Rake, chief executive of the Family and Parenting Institute, as saying.

“It is often the simple things that make a lasting impression on children,” she added.

She called for parents to be given greater flexible working rights.