This tracking survey from behavior change researchers at Marketing for Change gathers data on parent and child behaviors, social norms, rules, key issues and trendlines around topics like COVID-19 vaccines, social media, screen time, guns, child safety, mental health and conversations among families.
Explore topics and check back for updates on what’s normal for parents (and their kids).
Behavior: Children’s average hours of screen time on a recent Friday, according to parents (2021)
All Children
Ages 0-5
n = 264
Ages 6-12
n = 373
Ages 13-17
n = 281
Total*
3 hrs 48 min
2 hrs 48 min
3 hrs 54 min
4 hrs 54 min
Gaming
1 hr 6 min
30 min
1 hr 18 min
1 hr 18 min
Entertainment
1 hr 42 min
2 hrs
1 hr 36 min
1 hr 36 min
Academics
36 min
36 min
30 min
42 min
Social Media
48 min
12 min
42 min
1 hr 30 min
Other
6 min
6 min
6 min
12 min
*The number of parents who were included in the “Total” screen time averages differs from those included in the table above, since some parents noted that their children did not have any screen time and were not included in further analysis of this topic.
The N sizes for total screen time are as follows: n = 323 for ages 0-5, n = 396 for ages 6-12, and n = 300 for ages 13-17.