The Irish parenting website, Family Friendly HQ has published new research that delves into the habits of the typical Irish family and how they are currently spending their time across various areas including; work, sleep, commuting, health and wellbeing and children’s activities.
The ‘Family Moments’ research has found that whilst 99% feel that family time is important, but only 36% of respondents are happy with amount of family quality time they have together. When it comes to work 35% are planning to work from home in the evening while 40% spend 1 hour or more commuting everyday. Some 75% travel to work in the car, 3% cycle, 5% use the Luas/train and 8% by bus.
When it comes to couple time, 24% spend 12-14 hours together monthly – 26 minutes a day on average while 69% are planning one date this month.
In terms of ‘Me time’ Netflix/TV is the most popular “me time” activity but 41% have no designated “me time” while 20% find it hard to put time aside for me time. Some 37% go on social media to relieve stress, according to the research.
The survey also found that 46% do not get enough sleep or their sleep could be broken. Some 34% concerned about what they have to do tomorrow while 26% think about work with another 32% having concerns about personal issues and relationships
When it comes to their screen time, 57% spend more than 2 hours a week on devices and only 14% spend less than an hour a week. 45% are not happy with the amount of time they spend on devices while 63% are aware of what they are doing . However, 37% are not aware or somewhat aware of what kids are doing online.
The research is also being used in the new Family Moments hub that is live on Family Friendly HQ. The hub encourages families to take the Family Moments challenge and will help them make the most of their family time with advice, tips, competitions and much more depending on their results. The hub also houses stories from well-known Irish families about how they pledge to maximise their quality time together
Speaking about the research and the new website revamp, Richie Kelly, CEO of Packed.House, which publishes the website says: “The goal of Family Friendly HQ is to help the parenting community to navigate parenthood in modern Ireland. From pre-pregnancy to the teenage years, we have you covered. Family is the most important thing in the world and supporting our community of parents is the most important thing to us. Following nine months of research and development by the Packed.House team we are extremely proud of the fact that this project was completed entirely by our in-house crew. From ideation and editorial strategy, to design and development, every aspect of this project was meticulously executed by our highly talented Packed.House team. We are exceptionally happy with the finished product and the feedback from our community has been overwhelmingly positive during testing.”
