KEY POINTS:
A social survey backs up what every Auckland family knows - that the region's traffic gridlock is reducing the time that parents can spend playing with their children.
A Colmar Brunton survey of 257 parents of children aged 6 to 12 has found that 70 per cent of all parents, but only 60 per cent of parents in Auckland, spend at least half an hour playing with their children on an average weekday.
Even at weekends, Aucklanders spend less time playing with their kids. More than half of all parents (52 per cent), but only 46 per cent of Auckland parents, dedicate more than two hours a day to their children on Saturday and Sunday.
Colmar Brunton account manager Brendon Smith said the differences were indicative because the survey selected only 50 parents in each of five regions, including Auckland. But they were not surprising.
"I think it's about the time pressures that people face in Auckland in terms of the amount of things that they have in their day up here.
"They generally lead busier lives. More time is probably taken up in traffic. There are also just more things to do up here so your time can be filled up with many other things.
"If you're in the country you have less choice ... so you have more time to spend with your children."
The survey found women spend more time playing with children than men as 76 per cent of women, compared with 63 per cent of men, play with their kids for more than half an hour on weekdays.
But the gender differences are smaller than might have shown up in previous generations.
At weekends, dads now claim to spend virtually as much time as mums playing with the kids - on a national basis, 79 per cent of dads and 78 per cent of mums give at least an hour to playtime on both days.
Fifty-six per cent of dads, and only 39 per cent of mums, said they had played with the kids in the backyard in the past month. Exactly 49 per cent of both genders had taken the kids to a playground, 29 per cent of dads and 44 per cent of mums had taken them to the beach, 25 per cent of dads and 26 per cent of mums had taken them to sports, and 75 per cent of both genders had been involved with the kids in other outdoor activities.
By far the most popular play activity for both genders was watching TV or DVDs with the children - nominated by 91 per cent of dads and 83 per cent of mums.
The sample of 155 women and 102 men was chosen from a regular Colmar Brunton online panel and was funded by a Fonterra division, Anchor Calci Yum.
