American families only get one full week of vacation together a year

By Sam Paul

American families get just 37 minutes of quality time together per day - according to new research.

A study of 2,000 parents with school-aged children across the country found the extent to which hectic routines take a toll during the work week with the families polled managing less than 45 minutes all together on a typical weekday.The study by Visit Anaheim, the destination marketing organization for Anaheim, CA, found that while the quality time figure does jump up to two hours 40 minutes on weekend days, many families are still struggling for time to properly bond and enjoy each other without distraction.That might be because 60 percent of parents describe their daily lives as ‘hectic’ and one in four say that lack of family quality time away from chores, work, school or TV is a real problem.

The top things to blame are, inevitably, long hours at work (67 percent), weekends spent doing chores and the kids’ school schedule.

Every month, American families also spend time on an average of three appointments at the doctor, dentist or similar as well as an endless flow of day-to-day life admin.

“As a family-friendly destination, we know the positive benefits a vacation can have on a family,” said Jay Burress, president and CEO of Visit Anaheim. “A vacation offers a refreshing opportunity for families to leave their hectic routines at home and focus on bonding with each other, building memories that last a lifetime.”

When the frantic nature of family life does subside, parents do manage to get a little alone time with the average couple getting 20 date nights a year together.

In fact, the majority of parents (54 percent) say they only get 12 date nights at the most per year and as many as one in three (31 percent) get less than one date a month together.

Even when finally managing quality time together, 65 percent of parents say that their dates typically involve doing domestic chores together or running errands outside of the home.

Which might be why more than half of parents (54 percent) believe that they don’t get enough alone time with their partner.

The lack of time also extends right into Americans’ vacations - the average family polled said they get seven days a year where they are away on vacation all-together.

However, it can be hard to get the best of everything while away as a family, which is why 55 percent of those studied said they are constantly looking for things they can do as a whole family.

“From everyone’s favorite theme parks to professional sports, Anaheim is a great destination that offers a long lineup of exciting family-friendly activities and one-of-a-kind date night options,” said Burress.

“Anaheim continues growing, evolving and flourishing as a dynamic destination with its own cultural footprint in the cuisine, entertainment, sports and recreation arenas.