One in five women talk to their mum on the phone at least once a day

Matthew SmithHead of Data Journalism
September 24, 2016, 2:36 PM GMT+0

Three quarters of women and half of men talk to their mothers on the phone at least once a week, but dads get talked to less often

For some, a phone call from mum or dad is a welcome pleasure. For others, it is a tedious ritual to be avoided and ignored for as long as possible. Whatever the case, new YouGov research reveals the extent to which adults still remain in touch with their parents, and the results will please information-hungry mums everywhere.

Overall, nearly two thirds of people call their mum at least once a week, although there is a large gender divide with daughters much more likely to phone home than sons.* Almost three quarters (73%) of women say that they call their mothers at least once a week, and nearly one in five (19%) call them at least once a day. Men by comparison are less likely to call as frequently, but a majority (52%) still say that they call at least once a week.

Fathers are much less likely to be contacted frequently, with only 42% of people giving their dad a call at least once a week. There is only a very small gender divide for those contacting their fathers regularly – men are slightly more likely to call their fathers at least once a week, at 44% compared to 40% of women.

Whatsapp mum?

Overall, 49% of people email, text or message their mother at least once a week (55% of women, 41% of men), and 30% do so for their father (27% of women, 34% of men). Whilst it might be surprising that overall people are less likely to use a more casual means of contacting their parents, this seems to be because older people are not using this capability – presumably because either they or their even older parents are not so familiar with the technology.

Breaking the figures down by age group reveals that 80% of 18-24 year olds and 51% of 25-49 year olds message their mums at least once a week, compared to just 18% of 50-64 year olds. Likewise, whilst 49% of 18-24 year olds and 28% of 25-49 year olds message their dads at least once a week, this figure drops to just 10% of 50-64 year olds.

As many as half of people still see their mother in person at least once a week, whilst 40% still see their father in person at least once a week – although these figures are boosted by the number of 18-24 year olds who see their parents at least once a day (presumably because they still live with them). Nonetheless, 45-46% of those aged between 25 and 64 still see their mother at least once a week, dropping to 36-38% for fathers.

*Respondents were asked whether their mothers and fathers were still living before taking the survey and only given questions relating to parents that were still alive.

Photo: istockphoto

See the full results here

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