Yet another study has been published in Britain detailing the disturbing state of the British family. According to a poll of 3,000 families, taken as part of Britain’s first National Families Week, the average British family spends only 45 minutes a day together. Most families spend much of that time watching television or eating, according to the online poll conducted by YoungPoll and OnePoll.

The Mail Online said the findings “signal a worrying deterioration of the family unit thanks to what campaigners call a ‘family-unfriendly culture’” (May 28).

The study found that parents were twice as likely to describe their families as “tv and digital families” than “caring families.” Just one in ten considered themselves part of a “caring family” where the priority is to look after each other’s well-being.

Traditional family pastimes are on the decline, with only 5 percent saying they spend family time playing sports, 3 percent reading, and just 2 percent saying they help their children with homework.

More than half of parents said they did not spend enough time with their children. Twenty-three percent of fathers said that spending time with their friends came before spending time with their children.

Mothers working long hours outside the home is another factor contributing to the lack of family time, the Mail said.

The combined effects of a lack of family time—lack of parental involvement in children’s lives—can be witnessed in the social breakdown of society, not only in Britain but also in other Western countries, in particular.

Mothers fleeing the home for the workforce means children today are often home alone without parental supervision. At the same time, a huge number of children are growing up without the positive influence of an involved father. As a result, problems in families and society are multiplying.

Read the articles in our special August 2004 Trumpet edition on why family matters for more on this subject.