The FINANCIAL — Americans' love affair with smartphones and tablets shows no sign of abating. Over half (52%) own or use the former, with one in three owning and using the latter (33%). These ownership figures rise considerably when looking specifically at parents of children under 18, with seven in ten (69%) confirming smartphone ownership and 44% indicating tablet usage, according to Harris Interactive Inc. But is it just their own personal use driving this segment's higher ownership levels?
While it may or may not be a reason to purchase such devices, many parents seem to have found them useful for "controlling" a very specific crowd: over six in ten (61%) have ever used a smartphone (47%) and/or a tablet (44%) to keep their children under 18 occupied, entertained or distracted. Nearly two in ten have used a standard mobile phone (18%) or an eReader (17%) to do so, and 14% have used other mobile devices, while 20% have never done so with any device, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
But it's one thing to trust your own child with your tech (or at least resign yourself to the occasional cracked screen as an added cost of bringing up baby), and quite another to put such devices into other children's – and, some might argue, fate's – hands:
Far fewer parents of kids under 18 (23%), and a similar percentage of Americans overall (20%) have ever used a smartphone (14% each) and/or a tablet (13% parents of children <18, 12% Americans) to keep a family member's child occupied.
When it comes to a friend's child (again under the age of 18), Americans are even less likely to employ such tactics, with one in ten (10%) saying they have ever done so with a smartphone (7%) and/or tablet (5%). It's worth noting, however, that those with their own children under 18 (14%) are nearly twice as likely as those without (8%) to ever do so with their smartphone (11% with, 6% without) and/or tablet (7% with, 4% without).
When those who have ever used an electronic device to keep a child occupied are asked the age of the youngest child they have ever employed this tactic with, three in ten (29%) say age two or under, one-third (34%) point to the three to five age range and two in ten (20%) say six to nine.
But of course, smartphones are also capable of far less childish pursuits; that said, even in everyday smartphone uses, those with children under 18 stand apart from those without on several habits, showing a stronger likelihood to regularly use them for mapping or navigation functions (71% among those with children under 18, 62% among those without), social media (68% and 56%, respectively), find or research restaurants (52% and 42%, respectively), watch videos (50% and 39%, respectively), and purchase goods or services (33%, and 21%, respectively).
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