As of June 2020, 62 percent of parents to U.S. teens aged 14 to 17 years stated that their kids were spending more than four hours per day on electronic devices since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 32 percent of responding parents stated that their teens had used electronic devices daily for more than four hours before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the pandemic triggered a rise in the use of electronic devices among American children under 13 and teenagers with screentime now double that of what it used to be across all age groups.

YouTube, Netflix and Instagram dominate

In an ongoing survey between 2015 and 2020 it was reported that the most popular video platforms among teens in the U.S. were Netflix and YouTube, and the pandemic has done little to shift that. Cable TV viewership continued to decline throughout 2020, while Hulu rose in popularity during this time. Meanwhile, despite a slight drop in viewership Netflix and YouTube retained their positions as the top two video services after the onset of the pandemic. YouTube and Instagram were also named the most popular social media channels among teens and young adults, as of the third quarter of 2020. Due to their booming popularity, it is no wonder that advertisers have been increasingly targeting these networks, with social media add spend having been on the rise each year since 2017. The biggest growth surge has come from mobile advertising, while spend on desktop advertising has remained nearly the same.

Texting and phone calls most preferred during lockdown

As most of the world entered lockdown during the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, teens in the U.S. were asked which technologies they had used to virtually connect with friends and family during this time. 'Texting' was the most preferred method, named by over 80 percent followed by phone calls. Meanwhile, video chat and social media came in third.

Introduction: Screentime is ubiquitous with children and parents concerned and anxious about its effect on the well-being of their children. This project uses the 2020 data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) to determine if there is a correlation between the amount of weekday screentime in children ages 17 and younger and reported instances of mental health treatment and mental health treatment needed. Objectives: The primary objective of this project is to determine if there is a correlation between screentime and the mental health of children, ages 17 and younger. Methods: This project utilizes 2020 data from the NSCH, specifically the survey information collected about children ages 17 and younger on screentime, mental health professional treatment, and age of the child. Screentime refers to weekday time spent in front of a TV, computer, cellphone, or other electronic device watching programs, playing games, accessing the internet or using social media. After analyzing the three aforementioned variables, the percentage of mental health treatment occurrences by age group per screen time category indicates whether there is a correlation between children’s screentime and their mental health. Results: Preschool-aged (0-5 years old) children who spent 2 hours per weekday in front of a screen had the highest occurrence of mental health treatment, doubling the other categories of screentime. In school-aged (6-13 years old) children, there is a rise in mental health treatment needed as screentime increases. In adolescent (14-17 years old) children, there is a significant increase in the occurrence of mental health treatment as screentime increases, where 60% of adolescents who require mental health treatment spent four or more hours in front of a screen. Conclusions: There is a correlation between increased screentime and the occurrence of mental health treatment in children, particularly with the Adolescent (14-17 years old) age group.

In 2020, almost a quarter of American children spent more than four hours using screen daily. About the same amount did not use any screen media over that same period of time. In 2021, more than half of American children of all ages spent more than three hours watching online content outside of homework.

According to a 2023 survey conducted in the United States, Gen Z respondents were spending the most time using their phones, over six hours a day. By contrast, Baby Boomers recorded a daily screen time of roughly three hours and 30 minutes.  Many users feel addicted to smartphones As technology’s role in our everyday life increases, consumers tend to spend more and more time using electronic devices, whether it is for working and studying on laptops and tablets, watching TV or scrolling social media on smartphones. As a consequence, many users across all generations feel somewhat addicted to smartphones. According to a 2023 survey conducted in the United States, Gen Z users felt addicted to such devices the most, followed by Millennials. Taking a step back and nostalgia for early 2000s How can we combat the overwhelming urge to stay connected and take a step back from our always-on reality? In an effort to reduce screen time, many users, especially those in Gen Z, are expressing a sense of nostalgia for early 2000s technology, particularly dumb phones and wired headphones. For instance, during a 2024 survey in the United States, 28 percent of Gen Z respondents stated they would be interested in purchasing dumb phones, followed by 26 percent of Millennials - a trend that might involve more users in the future.

According to a survey of parents in the United States conducted in September 2022, besides time granted for homework and educational purposes, 43 percent of respondents who are currently employed reported allowing their children to use digital devices between one and two hours per day. The same number of respondents who are currently employed reported allowing children to have between one and two hours of daily screen time. Approximately 60 percent of unemployed respondents reported granting over three hours of daily engagement with digital devices for their children.

This table contains 2376 series, with data for years 2015 - 2015 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (11 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...);  Age group (3 items: Total, 6 to 17 years; 6 to 11 years; 12 to 17 years);  Sex (3 items: Both sexes; Males; Females);  Children's screen time (3 items: Total population for the variable children's screen time; 2 hours or less of screen time per day; More than 2 hours of screen time per day);  Characteristics (8 items: Number of persons; Low 95% confidence interval, number of persons; High 95% confidence interval, number of persons; Coefficient of variation for number of persons; ...).

According to a survey of media users in the United States fielded in December 2024, TV took up 39 percent of time spent with entertainment screens by respondents over the age of 35 years. The surveyed Gen Z consumers spent 16 percent of their entertainment screen time with TV, while they devoted 23 percent of that time to gaming.

The statistic presents data on the average amount of screen time parents allow their child a day in the United States as of January 2018, by household income. During the survey, 53 percent of respondents who earned 100 thousand U.S. dollars or more stated that they allowed their child two to four hours of screen time per day.

Female teens aged 13 to 18 years had an average daily entertainment screen time of eight hours and two minutes in the United States in 2021. In comparison, male tweens had an average screen time of six hours and 11 minutes.

Children aged 8 to 12 years spent an average of two hours and 40 minutes watching TV or videos daily in the United States in 2021. However, they spent an average of nine minutes reading books or articles online.

As of 2024, 18 percent of French children aged between 7 to 12 years old spent three hours or more on a screen outside of school. For teenagers aged 16 to 19 years old, that share explodes to reach 73 percent that same year.

This graph displays the screen time that French people spend in average on digital screens (smartphone, tablet or computer) per day, in a survey from 2019. It shows that French people aged between 18 and 34 years old spent the most time on screens: in average, screen time in this age group amounted to 5 hours and 48 minutes per day.

In 2022, French children aged six and younger spent on average six hours watching television or on the internet per week, while the gaming screen time slightly surpassed four hours. Teenagers spent a total screen time of 17 hours and 48 minutes online every week in France that same year.

The total daily entertainment screen time of teens, 13 to 18 year olds, amounted to eight hours and 39 minutes in the United States in 2021. Nevertheless, this figure for teens show an increase from the figure recorded in 2015, when it amounted to six hours and 40 minutes.

According to a survey of parents in the United States conducted between August and September 2022, 27 percent of respondents reported limiting by time per day their children's screen time. In comparison, 17 percent of parents reported only allowing their children to use digital devices for educational purposes during weekdays, while 40 percent of respondents reported not limiting their kids' screen time.

According to a survey of parents in the United States conducted between August and September 2022, six in 10 respondents reported limiting their children's screen time. By comparison, 40 percent of U.S. parents reported not setting any limit to their kids' engagement with digital devices.

A survey of parents in the United States found that during the second quarter of 2021, 53 percent of respondents were setting limits on their children's screen time. This is an increase from the all-time low of 48 percent of responding parents in the first quarter of 2021 and almost a return to pre-pandemic levels. Overall, 51 percent of parents said that their children spent more than three hours on screens per day.

The statistic shows the total screen time of characters on Game of Thrones as of August 2017. According to the source, Tyrion Lannister has spent approximately 337 minutes on screen during the hit HBO fantasy series.

In 2023, users in Indonesia spent on average 6.05 hours a day on their mobile phones, marking an increase from approximately 5.6 hours in 2020. Mobile users in Thailand and India had the second and third highest daily screen times among the selected countries, averaging 5.64 and 4.77 hours, respectively. With the exception of Indonesia and South Korea, all the surveyed APAC countries saw an increase in mobile screen times over the previous year.

In 2023, the majority of Poles stared between two and five hours daily at their smartphone. The younger the respondents were, the longer they tended to look at their smartphones.