Ofcom: Children and parents media use and attitudes report 2022

Ofcom has released its 2022 Children and Parents Media Use and Attitudes Report, with key findings including:

Online Visits and Attitudes

• Almost all children access the internet in 2021 (99%); most use a mobile phone (72%) or tablet (69%).
• 36% of primary school-age children do not always have adequate access to online learning equipment at home, compared to 17% of secondary school students. 11% of primary school students rarely or never have access to online learning equipment, compared to 3% of secondary school students.

Online Behavior

• Using video sharing platforms (VSPs) such as YouTube or TikTok is the most popular online activity among 3-17 year olds (95%); while most choose to watch content on VSPs, 31% of 12-17 year olds post content they have produced themselves.
• Among all online platforms, YouTube is the most used by 89% of children, while 50% use TikTok. However, TikTok is more popular in terms of posting content.

Online Profile

• Most children under 13 have a profile on at least one social media app or website; 33% of parents of children aged 5-7 say their children have a profile, as do 60% of parents of children aged 8-11.
• 62% of children aged 8-17 said they have multiple profiles registered on certain online apps and websites.
• 42% of parents of children aged 3-17 know the minimum age requirement for using most social media (13 years old), while 38% of parents of children aged 8-11 allow their children to use social media.

Content consumption

• Kids still watch live TV but are more likely to watch paid on-demand streaming services; 78% watch services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, while 47% watch live TV.
• While 6 in 10 teens say they use social media for news, it is also the least trustworthy or least accurate source of news; teens aged 12-15 are more likely to trust family (68%) or television (65%).

Parents’ concerns about children’s content consumption

• Seven in 10 parents of children under 16 are concerned about what their children see online. The biggest area of ​​concern is age-inappropriate content.
• 46% of parents are more concerned about their children seeing bad language, violence or disturbing content on TV than online content.

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