New research, commissioned by My Nametags, reveals that Ireland is the most lenient parenting nation in Europe. Over half (56%) of Irish parents agree they take a relaxed approach to raising their children by only enforcing a few or inconsistent rules. This is a contrast to the Netherlands, which ranks the strictest, with 3/5’s adopting a firm approach to rules.
The study, which was undertaken amongst parents across Europe, shows that Irish parents take a laid-back approach to raising children in many aspects of day-to-day life. For example, Irish parents are 30% less likely to expect their children to help with household chores than Portuguese parents and are the most likely to let their children stay up past their bedtime than anywhere else in Europe.
The research found that, despite their relaxed attitude, Irish parents are also the most likely to get hands on with their children. For example, 70% teach their children how to cook, compared to less than half of Belgians.
The biggest influence on modern parents also differs across Europe. Irish parents claim that what they didn’t like about their own upbringing (84%) has had the biggest impact on their parenting style. By comparison, Portuguese parents are most affected by social media (56%), whilst Belgian parents say they are most influenced by other parents at their child’s school (48%).
Lars B. Andersen, Managing Director at My Nametags, comments, “At My Nametags, we speak to parents across Europe every day. We were interested to find out how approaches to parenting differ across the continent to understand what extent culture impacts parents’ approaches. It’s interesting to see that, whilst despite being geographically close to each other, there are still stark differences in each nation’s approach, with rules found to be the biggest differentiator.”
Visit the My Nametags website, to find out more about the differences between parenting styles across Europe.
This research was conducted by Censuswide commissioned by Energy on behalf of My Nametags in 2022, surveying 4,000 parents in Ireland, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium.
