Nearly 50% Brit parents ‘too busy' to read their child a bedtime story

Many of us have grown up listening to bedtime stories our parents read to us.
 
However, a new British survey has revealed that this tradition is dying out - thanks to parents’ busy lives, reports the Daily Mail.

It found that while mums and dads are full of good intentions, they find it hard to fit stories into their busy schedules.

Of the 2,000 parents surveyed by telecoms firm TalkTalk, only 52% said they read bedtime stories to their children.

The remaining 48% said their lives were too hectic to squeeze a story in.

Sixty percent said they had stories read to them when they were young, but nearly half now just turn off the lights and close the door.

Yet, eight out of 10 surveyed agreed that bedtime reading could boost children’s development.

Those in Wales, East Anglia and Scotland are least likely to read to their children, while those in London, the West Midlands and the North West are most likely to.

The worrying statistics come after a government adviser last year warned that middle class children are struggling to learn how to talk because working parents are unable to find the time to help with speech development.