Tablet ownership ahead of games consoles among UK children

A retail-led survey has found that UK children under the age of 12 are now more likely to own a tablet than a games console.

46 per cent owned a tablet and 43 per cent a games console. These were followed by mobile phones (30%), laptops (28%) and MP3 players (15%).

It also found that over two thirds of kids own some sort of tech or gadgetry, with the average owning three such items. Kids are on average only five years old when they receive their first gadget and the average worth of these accumulated trinkets is 375.

On average kids spend 2.5 hours per day playing with said items.

The survey, run by Vouchercloud.com, polled 2,482 UK adults who had at least one child under 12.

We can’t escape from it, all aspects of our lives are becoming ‘smart’ or ‘i’ or powered by gadgets, with toy collections no exception to this rule,” Matthew Wood said. Gadgets and their capabilities have developed so rapidly that they have started to be seen as a necessity, rather than a luxury. Peer pressure from the playground and glossy ads have dictated that children are part of this shift in attitudes to technology, if not leaders in it.”