Nearly half of parents plan to allow smartphones at Christmas dinner table

Nearly half of parents (48%) with children aged 18 or younger plan to allow phones at the Christmas dinner table this year, a survey has found.

A survey of 2,009 UK adults, including 634 parents of zero to 18-year-olds, has found nearly four in ten (38%) adults say smartphones have disrupted their festive season in some way.

Nearly one in five (19%) said children no longer properly interact with relatives at Christmas, the poll found, rising to nearly a third (30%) for parents of 0 to 18-year-olds.

It comes after the chief of the schools watchdog Ofsted raised concerns that social media is “chipping away” at children’s attention spans and promoting disrespectful behaviour.

The survey, run by More in Common for Yondr, which makes lockable pouches for phones, found nearly one in four (23%) parents said their children cannot sit through a Christmas film without checking a device.

Two in three (66%) of 186 parents of zero to five-year-olds who responded to the poll said they planned to allow smartphones at the Christmas dinner table.

More than one in five (21%) of parents of children aged 18 or younger said smartphones have interrupted family gatherings or conversations in recent years.

And more than a third (34%) of parents with children aged 18 or younger said smartphones have distracted people at Christmas dinner in recent years, compared with one in five (21%) of all adults surveyed.

The most recent Ofcom data revealed children aged between eight and 14 are spending an average of nearly three hours online every day.

Ofcom also found young people were spending a “significant amount” of time online on phones and other devices late into the night, describing such use as “not unusual” in 2025.

The survey also comes after Australia’s social media ban for under-16s came into force last week.

Baroness Lloyd of Effra, minister for digital economy, told the Lords last week that Labour is “closely monitoring” Australia’s approach to age restrictions.

“When it comes to children’s safety, nothing is off the table, but any action must be based on robust evidence,” she told peers.