Not enough hours in the day - busy parents need 27 hours a day
Busy UK parents need an extra three hours a day to get everything they need done in the working week, according to research from the Post Office.
The research reveals that full time working parents are so time-poor that they only manage to spend less than three quarters of an hour (42 mins) a day with their families during the week, with the household chores and commute to work taking up most of their valuable free time. In fact, one in twenty parents (six per cent) admit to not having any time during the working week to spend quality time with their children.
In addition to the average eight and a half hours spent at work, housework such as cleaning, cooking and washing is the number one drain on parents' time - taking around an hour and a half each day, and the average commute lasting 44 minutes a day.
The key to clawing back valuable time for over half (59 per cent) of UK parents seems to be multi-tasking either while at home, work or commuting between the two.
While at work parents say they make personal calls (65 per cent), manage finances (47 per cent) or take the chance to shop online (40 per cent). Almost one in ten people (8 per cent) said they use their daily commute to catch up with much needed sleep.
Once home, nearly a third (30 per cent) of parents put their relationships under fire by texting or talking on the phone whilst spending quality time with their partners, family and friends in order to make up for lost time. And when they do get the chance to relax and watch TV two in five (40 per cent) admit they text and talk on the phone at the same time.
Stewart Fox-Mills, Head of Marketing, Post Office commented: "Our research showed that there really isn't enough hours in the day for many people, with time-poor parents trying to create some extra time by multi-tasking throughout the day.
"We want to help make our customers lives easier and although we can't create an extra three hours in the day we are changing to meet the needs of modern day life. Our customers have told us they'd like their Post Offices to be open longer and to have easier access to online services, and this is exactly what we're doing."
When asked what would help make life easier a quarter (25 per cent) of busy parents said they would like financial institutions and retailers to be open longer to allow them to pay their bills and do their shopping.
The Post Office is currently undertaking a multi-million investment programme in its branch network. With over 6000 branches being modernised over the next three years, many of these branches will offer substantially longer opening hours, including Saturday and Sunday opening.
The Post Office, now independent of Royal Mail, is the largest retail network in the UK, with over 11,500 branches. It is also one of the fastest growing financial services companies with over three million customers, whilst it is the market leader for travel money. It also offers some of the best value broadband and homephone packages on the market.
Visit postoffice.co.uk to find out more about the wide range of products and services available from the Post Office.