Is the traditional family holiday a thing of the past?
Posted by Sue Anderson, 24th Sep 2013
Many people have fond memories of family holidays spent in the sun, but we wanted to find out how common traditional family holidays were these days. In our latest research, we polled 1,952 parents living in the UK and asked them all about holidays they had been on with their children.
All those taking part had one or more child under the age of 10. In our poll, a 'family holiday' was defined as a break with both parents and siblings, if there were any, present.
When we asked 'Has your child (or children) ever been on a family holiday abroad or in the UK?' our poll revealed that 1 in 4 children under the age of 10 had never experienced this kind of trip; as 24% of the parents taking part said 'no'.
We wanted to find out why the traditional family holiday might be becoming a thing of the past and so we asked anyone that admitted their child had never been on a traditional family holiday the reasons why.
The top reasons for children not having been on a traditional family holiday were revealed to be as follows:
Family breakdown (e.g. divorce) - 31%
Financial difficulty - 29%
Never got round to booking one - 16%
Too busy with work to take them - 13%
Waiting until child is older - 9%
A third of the parents taking part, 32%, said that they 'dreaded' going on holiday with their youngsters. Ouch! When asked why that was the case, 56% said it was hard to 'keep them entertained', whilst 28% confessed they enjoyed 'time away' from their children.
The research also revealed that just a fifth of parents, 21%, felt that family holidays were an important part of their child's life. Holidays should be something enjoyed by all and it's a shame to think some children don't get to experience a traditional family trip.
All those taking part had one or more child under the age of 10. In our poll, a 'family holiday' was defined as a break with both parents and siblings, if there were any, present.
1 in 4 children have never experienced family holiday
When we asked 'Has your child (or children) ever been on a family holiday abroad or in the UK?' our poll revealed that 1 in 4 children under the age of 10 had never experienced this kind of trip; as 24% of the parents taking part said 'no'.
We wanted to find out why the traditional family holiday might be becoming a thing of the past and so we asked anyone that admitted their child had never been on a traditional family holiday the reasons why.
'Family breakdown top reason for lack of traditional family holiday
The top reasons for children not having been on a traditional family holiday were revealed to be as follows:
Family breakdown (e.g. divorce) - 31%
Financial difficulty - 29%
Never got round to booking one - 16%
Too busy with work to take them - 13%
Waiting until child is older - 9%
1 in 3 parents dread going on holiday with their kids
A third of the parents taking part, 32%, said that they 'dreaded' going on holiday with their youngsters. Ouch! When asked why that was the case, 56% said it was hard to 'keep them entertained', whilst 28% confessed they enjoyed 'time away' from their children.
The research also revealed that just a fifth of parents, 21%, felt that family holidays were an important part of their child's life. Holidays should be something enjoyed by all and it's a shame to think some children don't get to experience a traditional family trip.
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