Take charge of your family lifestyle
- According to a D.D.B. Needham lifestyle survey, family time has plummeted dramatically in the last 20 years.
- There's been a 33% decline in the percentage of time that families sit down together for dinner.
- According to a study by Roper Reports, time spent sitting and talking dropped from 53% to 43%.
- Parents, take heart: A new poll shows that 90% of children ages 9 to 14 say that family and friends are "way more important" than things that money can buy.
- And 6 out of 10 children say they'd rather spend time having fun with their parents than head out to the mall to go shopping, according to a recently released poll, commissioned by the Center for a New American Dream.
- "The simple fact is that our kids need us now more than ever, and they know it," said Betsy Taylor, founder and president of the center, which focuses on helping Americans "consume more responsibly."
- Yet only 32% of kids polled said they spend a "lot of time" with their parents, Taylor added. One in 4 said the lack of family time is due to the fact that their parents are too busy with work, while almost 1 in 5 blamed it on their own too-busy schedules of homework.