Children and young people are spending almost a day a week online with nearly half finding it hard to disconnect from online spaces, feeling trapped in a cycle of infinite scrolling and choosing screen time over exercise, sleep or real-world socialisation.
Our annual Digital Wellbeing Index, running for its fifth consecutive year, reveals:
- Children are spending 23 hours online each week including using AI tools, watching live streams and live streaming themselves, up from 16 hours in 2022.
- Nearly half (46%) of children say they keep playing the same games or watching the same shows or films – even when they are not enjoying them - (up from 40% in 2022).
- Three-fifths (59%) of children say they stay up late on their phone, playing games or watching TV.
- 40% of children are turning down real-world social opportunities to stay online.
- Almost half (45%) admit to turning down sport or exercise because they want to play video games, watch TV or be on social media – a 10% increase since 2022.
- Nearly a third (29%) of children state that spending a lot of time online affects their health.
- Over a third (37%) of parents say their child turns down opportunities to meet with friends so they can stay in on their phone, computer or games console, up from 26% in 2022.
The annual survey of UK children aged 9-16 and their families, tracks the impact of digital technology on children’s physical, social, emotional, and developmental wellbeing. The Index highlights both the positive impacts of the internet and tech devices on children and families as well as areas of concern.
Today’s report shows that a growing number of children are turning down real-world social opportunities and are instead choosing to spend time online. This is having a physical, emotional and social strain, with almost a third of children stating that spending a lot of time online affects their health and three-fifths staying up late on a device.
This shift towards more device use at the expense of real-world connection is likely a result of the way many online platforms are designed. Features such as personalised algorithms, infinite scroll and engagement streaks are explicitly intended to capture and retain users’ attention, making disengagement more difficult.
More key findings
Other key findings from the 2026 Index, include:
- Increased dependence on the online world is taking an emotional toll. More children (39%) say that if they miss out on friends’ social media activity, it makes them upset, up from 29% in 2024 and 24% in 2022.
- More time online brings more negative experiences than positives. Comparing children who spend the most time online with those who spend the least, positive wellbeing outcomes increase only slightly, while negative outcomes rise sharply. For example, negative developmental wellbeing scores are 73% higher among children in the highest quartile of time spent online, compared with just a 12% increase in positive development scores.
- This environment creates a complex and contradictory picture. For example, children who spend the most amount of time online are more likely to say being online has been important for them to meet people who become good friends (73% cf. 56% of those online the least) but also admit that spending time online makes them feel lonely (29% cf. 14%).
- The positives of online life are also increasing. Several measures of wellbeing have increased over the past four years, with more children using the online world for discovery, inspiration and friendship. 63% of children are using the internet to discover new sports and exercises (up from 49% in 2022) or to find new hobbies and interests (74%) – up from 63% in 2022.
Recommendations for Government
Earlier this month, the UK Government launched a consultation to improve children’s online experiences. Measures being consulted on include potential age restrictions on social media and other services such as gaming sites and AI chatbots, restrictions on addictive design features and functionalities, and better support for parents and families.
The Online Safety Act focuses on restricting children’s access to harmful content, however, as this research shows, additional measures are urgently needed to support children to regulate time spent online and this needs to be prioritised.
To improve children’s digital wellbeing Government must:
- Ensure that Ofcom enforces minimum age requirements on platforms using highly effective age assurance, so children under the minimum age outlined in platforms Terms of Service cannot access spaces which aren’t designed for them.
- Restrict children from accessing persuasive design features such as infinite scroll and engagement streaks that keep children online.
- Support embedding media and digital literacy across the curriculum with a centralised, up-to-date resource hub and stronger guidance and training for schools to ensure effective delivery.
To support parents, we provide practical step-by-step guides on parental controls across networks, devices, apps and platforms – tailored to their child’s age, interests and needs. We also have specific guidance to help parents balance children’s screen time as well as support to shape a healthy digital diet.
Rachel Huggins, CEO of Internet Matters, responding to the survey, said:
“Children are spending more time online than ever before, and our research shows this is creating a complex picture for their wellbeing. While the online world can help children learn, grow and socialise, the rise in negative experiences is a worrying trend.
“It is particularly concerning that many children feel unable to switch off – continuing to scroll, watch or play even when they’re no longer enjoying it, and that many are turning down opportunities to spend time with friends or be active in the real world. This reflects the way many platforms are designed to capture and keep attention.
“If we want to improve children’s digital wellbeing, whilst we continue to tackle the prevalence of harmful content, we must also address the design of online platforms that keep children online for longer.”
