Bringing Up Today's Child - Sunday Mirror

 
  • MORI interviewed 1003 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain.
  • Interviews were conducted by telephone on 15-19 March 1999.
  • Based on all unless otherwise stated.
  • Data are weighted to the profile of Great Britain.
  • An '*' indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero.
Q1 Please could you tell me, are you the parent of a child/children?
160 %
Yes 71
No 28

160

Q2 How many children do you have? Base: All with children (715)
160 %
1 24
2 42
3 20
4 9
5+ 4
No answer 1

160

Q3 How old is your child/are your children?
160 %
0-5 20
6-10 20
11-15 19
16-20 18
21-24 16
25+ 45

160

Q4 Do you expect to have children at some point in your life? Base: All non-parents (276)
160 %
Yes 54
No 39
Don't know 7

160

Q5 At what stage in your life do you expect to have children? Base: All non-parents who expect to have children (148)
160 %
When I can afford to 11
When I've met the right partner 17
When I'm older 63
When career is established 1
Already pregnant 2
Anytime/not sure 6

160

Q6 Why do you not expect to have children? Base: All non-parents who do not expect to have children (108)
160 %
Can't afford to 4
World too unstable/violent a place/concerns for the future 4
Don't like children 13
Impact on quality of life 3
Health reasons/risks 25
Too old 47

160

Q7 How many children are there living in your household?Base: All (1,003)
160 %
None 56
One 19
Two 18
More than two 7

160

Q8 How many adults are there living in your household?
160 %
None 3
One 25
Two 60
More than two 13

160

Q9 In general, how happy or unhappy are you with your life at present?
160 %
Very happy 41
Fairly happy 46
Neither happy nor unhappy 7
Fairly unhappy 3
Very unhappy 2
No opinion *

160

Q10 How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
160 Strongly agree Tend to agree Neither agree nor disagree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don't know
160 % % % % % %
Children from single parent families find it harder to get on in life 13 27 14 23 16 7
Single parents rely too much on the State for financial support 22 25 15 22 10 6
Parents should stay together at all costs for the sake of their children 12 11 8 34 33 2
Women with young children should not go out to work, but stay at home to look after them 18 20 18 24 18 1
Mothers who do not work have a closer relationship with their children than those who do work 28 29 10 19 12 2
People look down on you in this country if you are the child of a single parent 8 22 8 35 21 6
People look down on you in this country if you are the child of divorced parents 2 10 7 46 30 5
It is sometimes justified for parents to smack or slap their children 32 47 5 6 9 1

160

Q11 The Government provides benefits and other financial support to various different groups in Britain today. How much would you say you know about the level of these benefits and financial supports?
160 %
A great deal 3
A fair amount 24
Not very much 49
Nothing at all 24

160

Q12 From what you know or have heard, is the Government doing too much, about the right amount or too little in the following areas?
160 Too much About the right amount Too little Don't know
160 % % % %
Providing benefit for married couples with children 9 41 29 21
Providing benefit for unmarried couples with children 17 34 20 28
Providing benefit for lone parents 15 37 27 21
Providing child care help for lone parents 7 26 45 22
Ensuring crиche facilities are available at workplaces 3 16 64 17

160

Q13 I am now going to read out a list of various aspects of a child's upbringing. For each one, could you tell me whether you think it is mainly the responsibility of schools, mainly the responsibility of parents, or if both are equally responsible?
160 Mainly school responsible Equally responsible Mainly parents responsible
160 % % %
Discipline 1 55 44
Sex education 7 70 23
Dealing with bullying 30 65 5
Ensuring they eat a balanced diet 1 35 64
Drugs education 10 78 12
Ensuring they stay physically fit 5 52 43
Ensuring they do not use bad language 2 49 49

160

Sex Education

The next few questions are about the way children learn about sexual issues.

Q14 At what age do you think children should be taught about sex and 'the facts of life'?
160 %
Under 5 years old 4
5-7 years old 9
8-10 years old 34
11-12 years old 33
13-15 years old 11
Over 16 years old 1
Don't know 8

160

Q15 And at what age did you learn about the facts of life?
160 %
Under 5 years old 1
5-7 years old 3
8-10 years old 17
11-12 years old 30
13-15 years old 30
Over 16 years old 12
Don't know 7

160

Q16 And from whom did you learn the facts of life?
160 %
Parents 32
Brother / sister 7
Other relative 2
Teacher / sex education lesson 26
Friends in the playground 45
Through a relationship / when married 1
Through life / personal experiences 2
Friends / work colleagues 2
From books / magazines 1
From animals *
Through media / films *
Can't remember 1
Elsewhere 1

160

Q17 I'm now going to read out some statements about children and their sexual education. How strongly do you agree or disagree with each statement?
160 Strongly agree Tend to agree Neither agree nor disagree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don't know
160 % % % % % %
It is just as important for sex education to teach children about sexually transmitted diseases as about contraception and preventing pregnancy 85 13 * 1 1 1
There are circumstances where under-16s should be issued with contraceptives 30 37 5 11 14 2
It is important for children to see homosexual people on television and in the media 12 25 12 20 28 3
I would support my child if they told me they were homosexual 53 29 4 3 6 6

160

Lifestyle

Base: All parents of children 15 or under (309)

I'd now like to ask you some questions about the time you spend with your children, and how you spend it.

Q18 Which of the following applies to you?
160 %
I would like to spend more time with my children 43
I spend about the right amount of time with my children 53
I would like to spend less time with my children 3

160

Q19 On average, how many hours a day during weekdays would you say you spend with your children? And how many hours a day on average would you say you spend with them during weekends?
160 Weekday Weekend
160 % %
More than 12 hours 24 63
8-11 hours 11 20
4-7 hours 47 11
1-3 hours 14 2
Less than one hour 2 1
Don't know 2 2

160

Q20 I am going to read out a number of different activities you may do with your children. On average, how often, if at all, do you ... ?
160 4 + week 2-3 x week 1 x week Once or twice a month Less than once a month Never
160 % % % % % %
Watch television 74 16 5 1 0 5
Go shopping 6 18 48 14 5 9
Eat a meal together 86 7 3 * 0 2
Go to the cinema * 1 2 26 34 36
Read with them 56 17 6 3 3 15
Go on day trips 1 4 22 45 23 5
Go to the park 8 19 26 16 11 19
Help with homework 43 20 8 3 2 25

160

Q21 I am now going to read out some activities children may do. For each one, please tell me whether you think they spend too much time doing it, about the right amount of time, or not enough.
160 Too much time About the right amount of time Not enough time Don't do activity
160 % % % %
Watch TV 60 35 1 4
Play computer games 40 31 2 27
Exercise 3 54 39 5
Read books 1 56 38 5
Homework 6 58 18 19
Use the Internet 7 12 9 72

160

Q22 I am going to read out a statement. Please tell me how strongly you agree or disagree. "I don't mind what my children watch on TV, as long as they are happy"
160 %
Strongly agree 6
Tend to agree 7
Neither agree nor disagree 2
Tend to disagree 20
Strongly disagree 64
Don't know 1

160

Q23 And are there any types of programme which you do not allow your children to watch?
160 %
Yes 91
No 9

160

Q24 What sorts of programmes do you not allow your children to watch?Base: All who do not allow their children to watch some types of programme (281)
160 %
Programmes containing sex 79
Programmes containing violence 90
Programmes containing bad language 63
After certain set time / watershed 3
Horror film 2
Soaps 1
Medical programmes / programmes which are gory 1
Children's TV / cartoons 1
Prefer to vet programme first myself 1
Other 2

160

Drugs

Base: All parents of children 15 or under (309)

I am now going to ask you some questions that relate to your child/ren's health.

Q25 How concerned are you about the impact of the following issues on the long-term health and happiness of your children?
160 Very concerned Fairly concerned Not very concerned Not at all concerned Don't know
160 % % % % %
Drug abuse 77 18 3 1 1
The long-term effects of global warming 26 41 21 6 6
The spread of HIV and AIDS 63 26 8 1 1
The long-term effects of genetically modified food 35 30 18 6 11
The decreasing number of secure jobs 50 36 8 4 2
World over-population 18 34 31 14 4

160

Q26-27 Which of the following would you say are problems in your local area? And which one are you most concerned about?
160 Problems Most concerned
160 % %
Under-age drinking 55 18
Children smoking 62 23
Children/young people using "soft" drugs such as cannabis 46 15
Children/young people using "hard" drugs such as heroin/cocaine 28 22
None of these 20 22

160

Q28 How much, if anything, would you say you know about illegal drugs and their effects? read out. alternate order.
160 %
A great deal 19
A fair amount 48
Not very much 25
Nothing at all 6
Don't know 3

160

Q29 Have you tried to find out more about illegal drugs and their effects?
160 %
Yes 31
No 69

160

Q30 Where did you look for more information about drugs? Base: All parents of children aged up to 15 who have tried to find out more about illegal drugs and their effects (95)
160 %
Books 31
Newspapers 19
The Internet 4
Friends 11
Citizen's Advice Bureau 2
Asked children 3
Local authority 22
Television programmes 18
Doctor 19
Through education system 7
Leaflets 4
Through course/training 7
Through police/drugs unit 5
Through work/part of job 8
Other 8

160

Q31 And have you ever done any of the following?
160 Yes No
160 % %
Spoken to my children about alcohol and its effects 54 46
Spoken to my children about drugs and their effects 58 42
Spoken to my children about smoking and its effects 69 31

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