5% of British parents have never read to their children at bedtime

5% of parents admit to never reading their child a bedtime story, according to new research carried out by Furniture Village. The bedroom experts investigated family reading habits of the UK while also carrying out a study into bedtime stories with Clinical Physician Linda Blair.

Reading to children has many recognised benefits. In a recent survey of 942 parents by Furniture Village, nine in ten said the bedtime story allows them to spend quality time together with their child. The same percentage agreed that it also helps to improve their child’s communication and language skills.

Yet despite knowing better, many parents choose other, less productive activities for their children’s bedtime routines. Almost one in two parents also watch TV with their children (42%), watch YouTube videos (23%) or play games on electronic devices (19%).

Who’s reading?
It was uncovered that younger parents are more likely to read to their kids at bedtime than older parents. Moreover, eleven percent (11%) of parents will read to their child, but only on weekends – suggesting at least five out of seven nights are spent without a bedtime story. But it’s not just the parents themselves who do the reading. According to the data, approximately 8700 children in the UK are read to by their nannies (on par with siblings), which is the equivalent of 33 UK primary schools.

Why are some parents skipping the bedtime story?
One in ten parents ditch the bedtime story during the week for reasons now revealed. As many as one in five see bedtime reading as an ‘outdated activity’ and 17% state that they do not think it teaches their children any skills. This could be down to the increasing difficulty to engage children in an overstimulating environment, where one in five parents say their children find the activity ‘boring’.