Research

Back to school survey reveals parent’s preferred age for their kids to own a smartphone is 10 years

Internet Matters Team | August 27th, 2015

Internet Matters supports parents and professionals with comprehensive resources and expert guidance to help them navigate the ever-changing world of child internet safety.

What’s the minimum age a child should own a smartphone?

We surveyed 1,000 parents up and down the country with children aged 8-11 years old to find out what they thought about what age children should be using smartphones.

Survey findings

The survey revealed the majority of parents (84.6%) would like a minimum age for smartphone ownership in the UK – with age 10 being the most popular minimum age.

We also asked at what age parents had given their child a smartphone and the results highlighted huge regional variations of smartphone usage among children.

‘Smartphone capital of Britain’

Newcastle was revealed to be the kids ‘Smartphone capital of Britain’ – with 90.5% of primary school children aged 8-11 owning one, compared to Manchester (64.7%), Birmingham (60.7%) and London (55.2%). Brighton and Hove came bottom of the table with 40%.

Back to school survey