27 May Over 80 Percent of Parents in the East of England Experience Parental Guilt
New research has revealed that 83 percent of parents in the East of England experience guilt when it comes to raising their children, with parents feeling guilty almost twice a day on average. This equates to an astonishing 46 times per month or 556 times per year.
The study, which was conducted amongst parents in the UK, by leading name label manufacturer My Nametags (https://www.mynametags.com/), found that parents in the East are amongst the most likely to be afflicted by parental guilt in the UK, coming in third behind those in Yorkshire and the North West.
Interestingly, women are more likely to suffer this than men, with British mums feeling guilty eight times more per month than dads on average.
The most common cause of parental guilt in the East of England is allowing children to have too much screen time, with more than half of parents feeling guilty for letting their youngsters spend too much time on their iPads or in front of the TV. This is followed by losing their temper with them (63 percent), not spending enough quality time with their children (47 percent), giving them quick and easy meals instead of cooking from scratch (37 percent) and not making enough effort with other parents to arrange play dates (37 percent).
This contrasts to attitudes towards parenting elsewhere in the UK, with parents in the North East more likely to feel guilty about not helping their children with their homework (53 percent) and those in London fearing they don’t play with their children enough (38 percent).
Brits also sweat the small stuff, with some parents reporting feeling guilty about not mending their children’s clothes when they get damaged, writing their children’s name in their clothing instead of sewing in a name label and not ironing all of their clothing.
It is mums who are more likely to worry about these small details, with women regularly feeling guilty about being caught on their phone when they should be concentrating on their children, not buying them the latest clothes, and not making school play costumes themselves. Dads, on the other hand, are more likely to fret over asking other people to look after their children because they are too busy and not tucking them in at night.
However, the study found that this guilt is often disproportionate. While almost half of British parents feel guilty about losing their temper, only 38 percent believe this negatively impacts their children. Similarly, while over a quarter feel guilty about giving their children quick and easy meals, only 14 percent think this genuinely effects their children’s wellbeing, demonstrating that parents even feel guilty about things that they don’t believe have an impact on their children.
