Survive to thrive 2021 report

All participants were carefully screened to ensure they met the required criteria to take part and were suitable for this research.

The Internet Matters Parents Tracker has been running since 2017 with three waves of research being conducted each year. In each wave we interview 2,000 parents of children aged 5-16 across a broad sociodemographic background, on their children’s digital usage, their specific concerns and experience of online harm and their own mediation techniques. To allow us to reflect on changes since before the Covid pandemic, this report uses data from the last 4 waves of the survey undertaken in January 2020, May 2020, October 2020 and March 2021.

• What children have been doing online
• How parents feel about their children’s online world
• How children with vulnerabilities have been most impacted
• How families adapted to the virtual school
• What next? Looking ahead

• Parents have reported a 32% increase in screen time usage on weekdays (from an average of 2.2 hours per weekday last year to 2.9 hours in March 2021)
• 61% of parents say their children play games online on their own and 48% against others
• Watching live broadcasts had a 43% increase year on year or actively broadcasting their own videos
• There was an 89% increase year on year of children actively broadcasting their own videos
• 42% increase in spending money online, which includes game credits as well as online shopping and app purchases
• Over half of parents (56%) say their children’s online world has had a positive impact on their lives since the pandemic began
• More than half of parents (53%) agree that their child has become too reliant on online technology
• 80% agreed that technology has been a good tool for online learning and 78% saw the positive impact it had on allowing their children to socialise, stay connected, and be entertained
• Two in five parents (39%) found themselves leaving their children alone with their devices for much longer periods of time than usual
• Nearly a quarter (23%) of parents of vulnerable children report that their child has experienced online bullying
• 47% of parents of vulnerable children told us that children have become more anxious as a result of spending more time online over the last 12 months