Daily Research News Online no. 5742 - Americans Happy, Spending More Time with Kids

Americans Happy, Spending More Time with Kids

July 21 2006

Seventy-seven percent of Americans are either extremely or somewhat happy, according to the 'America Says' survey by Directions Research. Meanwhile a report by Yankelovich suggests US parents are managing both to spend more time with their kids *and* make more time for themselves.

Directions says the major sources of happiness are love lives and immediate families. Nearly 60% say their love lives make them either extremely or somewhat happy while only 7% own up to being extremely unhappy with their love lives. 80% are either extremely or somewhat happy with their immediate family relationships, and only 2% extremely unhappy.

Forty percent are 'extremely or somewhat happy' with their careers; only 15% with co-workers; and only 9% with their current financial position. Predictably perhaps, government does not fare well: only 20% said they are extremely or somewhat happy with the Federal government while slightly more are happy with local government. However, 63% are 'extremely or somewhat happy' with their homes, 62% with their cars and 58% with their outlook for the future.

The survey is based on responses from 1,071 randomly selected Americans over the age of 18 with data collection by Greenfield Online (www.greenfield.com ). Results in detail are available at www.directionsresearch.com/files/AmericaSaysResults20064.pdf . Directions Research, Inc. is ranked 23 on the recent American Marketing Association 'Honomichl 50' list.

The survey by Yankelovich concludes that 'the parenting paradigm is undergoing a major shift, moving toward much greater involvement by parents in the lives of their children', partly through the determination of grown up 'latchkey children' to do things differently. At the same time, parents increasingly believe in making time for themselves because they 'have a right to live as well as they want, even if it means leaving less to their children'. The report, Parents Y*Report: Exploring the New Family Dynamic, also explores how parents balance personal goals and parenting responsibilities.

'Marketers must refresh their understanding of parents' according to John Page, Youth Insights Manager at Yankelovich, '- how parents have evolved - and continue to change'. Key demographic and attitudinal findings are:

In 1995, Baby Boomers comprised 65% of parents with kids under the age of 18; today, they make up just 37%. Gen Xers have taken over as the largest parenting generational cohort (46%) with kids under age 18.
with the rise in Internet access, parents' confidence in having the right information at their fingertips has also risen - 78% of today's parents say they 'know how to get the information I need to make decisions', up from 67% in 2001.
In 1995, 38% of parents with kids under 18 agreed that 'people's main responsibility is to themselves and their family - not to making the world a better place to live in'. By 2005, that percentage rose to 46%. Almost all (90%) parents also agree that 'I talk with my kids about many more things than my parents talked to me about.' Most parents of kids age 12-17 (72%) also believe that 'My children and I have a lot more in common than I did with my parents when I was a child.'

However, Yankelovich also points to the rise of a phenomenon it calls 'iPrioirity. 'Parents need to be reminded that it's okay to be themselves' says Page, 'even with parenting being all-encompassing the first few years... iPriority will lead to the decline of the 'martyr mom', who sacrifices herself for the sake of others, [or at least] knows when she needs a break.' Common indulgences include taking a nap (48%, up from 36% in 2002), spending quality time alone (43%, up from 37% in 2002) and eating something decadent or sinful (31%, up from 20% in 2002).

The report is part of an on-going series of in-depth topical analyses. The firm is online at www.yankelovich.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.