UK children trapped in materialistic culture
Our obsession with giving our kids the latest gadgets and toys at the expense of simply spending time with them is creating a nation of unhappy children.
British parents are trapping their children in a materialistic culture where owning the latest technology and branded gear is becoming a priority according to new research from UNICEF carried out by Ipsos MORI.
Children in Spain, Sweden and the UK were unanimous in explaining that their happiness was dependent on spending time with their family, having good friends and having plenty of things to do, especially outdoors. Material goods are often used by children as social enablers rather than as direct contributors to their own happiness according to the report.
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But while the findings were consistent across the three countries, the parental response was different in the UK. The pressure to consume appeared much weaker and the resilience of children and parents much greater in Spain and Sweden compared with the UK. The report points to how in the UK parents find it very hard to challenge the commercial pressures around them and their children. This pressure was felt most acutely in low-income homes.
And although parents in the UK want to spend time with their kids, the long working-hours culture in the UK means they lose out on time together. Often they then compensate by buying gadgets and clothes for their children.
In comparison in Sweden and Spain, family time is prioritised with less pressure to buy material goods and more of a focus on out-of-home activities.
David Bull, executive director of UNICEF UK, said: “Right now politicians are grappling with the aftermath of the riots and what they say about our society, culture and families. The research provides important insights, and it is vital that those in power listen to what children and their families are saying about life in the UK.”
The report makes some specific recommendations to the Coalition government and these include: encouraging businesses to pay a living wage so low-income parents don’t have to take on multiple jobs to make a living; protecting funding at local authority level for play facilities and free leisure activities for children and following the Swedish example of banning advertising shown in children’s programmes aimed at the under-12s.
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Child well-being in the UK, Spain and Swede: The role of inequality and materialism is a follow-on study from UNICEF’s 2007 report which ranked the UK at the bottom in child well-being compared with other industrialised nations.
In this report more than 250 children in three countries — UK, Spain and Sweden — were questioned in-depth in their peer groups in schools and 24 families were observed and filmed.
