It reveals that children are born into homes where digital technology is a very familiar aspect of everyday life - 98% of the families who took part in the study’s online survey had access to a smartphone and the same proportion have Wi-Fi connectivity. 

Almost all families in the study (92%) reported they have a television/smart television and over 80% have laptops and/or tablets. In Northern Ireland, 99% families reported owning a smartphone, 93% a television/smart television, 86% a tablet and 77% a desktop computer.

In addition, it revealed 13% of children in Northern Ireland own their own smartphone, and 55% own their own tablet.

Toddlers, Tech and Talk was led by Manchester Metropolitan University and carried out in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast, Lancaster University, Swansea University, and the University of Strathclyde.

It is the first in-depth study, combining a survey, interviews and observations in family homes across the UK, to explore digital technology in the home lives of children from birth to 36 months.

Rosie Flewitt, Principal Investigator and Professor of Early Childhood Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University said: 

“Official statistics and discussions in society often assume that very young children don’t use digital media. Our research shows that this is not the case. Our findings offer much needed insights into very young children’s interactions with a range of digital technology at home.”

Professor Karen Winter, Co-Investigator and from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast commented:

“Findings highlight that far from being something that exists outside of their everyday lives, digital technology is an embedded aspect of very young children’s daily lives.”

Families also have many other devices including smart speakers, interactive toys, audio players and even domestic appliances (smart refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and touch sensitivity control panels).

The study highlights the many ways that parents use technology with their children, such as looking at photographs and videos, taking photographs, watching programmes, playing music, making digital paintings and listening to stories. Many very young children also watch videos and take photos by themselves, with some also playing digital games on their own, including number and phonics learning apps.

The study offers important further insights into how technology can offer rich opportunities for very young children’s language development, such as listening and singing along to songs and nursey rhymes, watching and talking about much-loved TV characters with their parents or siblings and talking with family in video calls.

Dr Katrina McLaughlin, Co-Investigator and from the School of Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast continued:

“Importantly, the findings also illustrate that parental attitudes, income, gender, ethnicity, age, education and background all impact on the extent to which and the ways in which children engage with different types of digital technology.

“Whilst parents reported feel confident supporting their children’s use of digital technology, and see its benefits to enhance their children’s learning, they are also concerned that very young children use too much digital technology too early, and that digital technology can be damaging to young children’s mental health.”

Professor Flewitt said:

“Parents are highly aware of opportunities and tensions around their children’s use of digital technology. They balance beneficial opportunities for their children to communicate with others, play and learn, with concerns over possible damaging effects of overuse.”

Professor Winter added:

“Findings lend weight to the urgent need to ensure that the very youngest children are considered in debates about digital technology and that account is taken of their rights in relation to the digital environment. In particular, the need to ensure equality of access to the opportunities provided by digital technology balanced with the need to ensure that parents are given appropriate and accessible information to support their children’s positive and beneficial use of technology.”

The two-year study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

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