Family life worse than ever believe 70% of Britons

In a BBC survey for a programme about the modern British family, 70 per cent of people were nostalgic for the family days gone by.

But in nearly all other areas, those surveyed were happy with family structure today. Parenting skills were far more highly rated.

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In 1951, 90 per cent of people thought their mother had done her best for them when they were children whereas today that figure is 94 per cent. The increase for fathers was from 80 per cent in the 1950s to 86 per cent now.

As many as 96 per cent of respondents said family life was important to them, and 93 per cent said they were very or fairly happy with their family life.

It also revealed 95 per cent believe their families are close, a rise of 4 per cent since 1999.

Three quarters expressed their optimism for the future for their families, and despite political warnings about family breakdown that figure is almost a quarter higher than when the same question was asked in 1964.

But more of us would like to live alone. Asked what lifestyle they would prefer, 7 per cent more people would like to live alone today than in 1999.

The survey also found that more than half of people said they ate a meal with their immediate family every day.

It shows families are now more dispersed around the country with an average of 81.4 miles separating respondents from their parents, a figure that almost doubles to 158.6 miles among those living in London.

On average, non-white respondents also lived significantly further from their parents than white respondents.

Almost half of those asked said they see the parent they are closest to once a week or less, and 17 per cent say they have family members whom they no longer speak to.

Just under three quarters say they feel happiest around their families. This compares to just 17 per cent who say they are happiest around friends.

The poll of 1001 adults was carried out by ICM between October 18 and 21.