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The second part of the YouGov Big Survey on Family explores how Britons compare the importance of family and friendships, including whether parents, children and relatives can also be considered friends.
How important do Britons say family is to them?
Fully two thirds of Britons (66%) say that family is “very important” to them, with a further 25% describing family as “fairly important”. Only 7% feel family is not very or not at all important in their lives.
Women are much more likely than men to feel family is very important, by 74% to 57%. Older Britons prove to be more likely than other age groups to say that family is very important to them, with 72% saying so compared to 60-64% of younger generations.
Blood is, as they say, thicker than water, and comparatively fewer Britons say their friends are “very important” to them (45%), with a further 38% deeming them “fairly important”. One in seven Britons (14%) say friends are not important to them.
Women again are more likely to see friends as “very important” than men, by 52% to 37%, while the age dynamics flip – in this case, it is the youngest generation who stand out, with 62% of 18-24 year olds saying friendships are “very important” to them compared to 41-45% among older age groups.
Given the higher strength of feeling towards family, it is no surprise therefore to see that 65% of Britons say that family is more important in life than friendships, with 16% saying the opposite.
Young people are the most noticeably likely to favour their friends over family, although this still only amounts to 27% of 18-24 year olds who feel this way, compared to 52% who say family is more important to them.
How many Britons are also “friends” with their family?
But for how many Brits are friends also family?
The majority of those with adult children (57%) say they are “friends” with one or more of them. Yet only 33% of those who have a living mother or father (or step-parents) say they are friends with them.
More narrowly, among those who have a mother or stepmother, 31% consider themselves friends, compared to 21% who have a father or stepfather.
When it comes to brothers and sisters, 43% of those Britons with siblings say they are “friends” with one or more of them
Looking further afield, 18% describe themselves as being friends with a cousin, compared to 15% with one or more of their nieces or nephews, 10% their aunts or uncles, and 8% their grandparents.
Is it acceptable for parents to be friends with their children?
While psychologists warn that parents should not be friends to their children growing up, the majority of Britons (69%) see it as acceptable – although only 37% deem it “completely acceptable”. Nevertheless, only 21% deem it unacceptable, with the attitudes of parents with children under the age of 18 largely matching those of the wider public.
In the case of adult children, fully 86% of Britons say see parent-child friendships to be acceptable, including 59% who see it as “completely” acceptable. Again, those with adult children themselves answer at effectively the same rate as the general population.
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Photo: Getty