The average modern British family revealed

The average modern family wakes up at 6:55am on a weekday, watches three and a half hours of television a day - and has a Ford on the driveway.
Settling down to three-and-a-half hours of TV.Settling down to three-and-a-half hours of TV.
Settling down to three-and-a-half hours of TV.

A study into 2,000 UK families found clans up and down the country tuck into two takeaways a month, most often on a Saturday night, and get just three hours of quality time together per day.

They allow themselves an hour long lie-in on a weekend - getting up at 7:55 am - and send the kids to bed at 8:30pm, with sleepy adults following just an hour later at 9:56pm.

It also emerged they eat meals together five times a week and take two walks every month.

Modern families

The study was commissioned by McCain to discover how families have changed in the modern age.

Mark Hodge of McCain said: “As a family business, we understand families and we understand how family composition and behaviours have changed in recent years.

“Our research shows there is much more to be done by way of accurately representing the modern day family, and our latest campaign, ‘We Are Family,’ aims to do exactly that.”

The study also found on the three televisions in the average British family’s home, children’s shows are overwhelmingly the most popular - taking up 60 per cent of the screen time.

This was followed by documentaries and news and current affairs shows.

Television debates

Additionally, families have eight arguments a month over the telly remote, or what’s going to be played on the TV.

And in total, the typical household in the UK will play host to more than 150 rows per year in total.

The average spend on the weekly food shop in the UK was revealed to be £81.65, and a third of parents have to make two dinners a night - one for the kids, and one for themselves.

The study also found that family dynamics are changing, with more than one in 10 reporting having aunts and uncles younger than themselves.

Reality TV

And many parents believe modern families are not properly represented in current popular culture, with 45 per cent wanting to see more accurate representations of modern families on TV and in films.

A third of respondents said real families are nowhere near as polished as telly shows and movies would have us believe.

The survey carried out by OnePoll also found one in 10 admit that real family life can be more chaotic and less happy than those seen on screen.

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