New research by high-interest savings platform Flagstone reveals parents are at the sharp end of Britain’s growing ‘time debt’. The average UK parent spends five extra hours a week on chores compared with non-parents, and will pay to reclaim this time lost. Four in five parents say their mornings feel like a full workday before their paid work begins, completing over 20 tasks before 9am. This growing time debt has led many to seek solutions: time-saving services that let you buy back hours otherwise spent on routine chores, like cleaning, laundry, and cooking. For example, hiring a cleaner, using a launderette, or ordering meal prep services. Reflecting this trend, Flagstone conducted a new survey to discover the real ‘cost of convenience’. The survey asked parents and non-parents how much time they save per week using time-saving services. How time-poor are parents? Parenthood now carries a measurable time deficit, and families are increasingly choosing to spend money to close it. Flagstone’s research shows the scale of this gap: parents spend 17 hours a week on chores, compared with 12 hours for non-parents – the equivalent of losing more than 37 days a year versus 26 days for non-parents. Of the various tasks, travelling is the largest contributor to parents’ extra time, averaging two hours and 31 minutes per week. This is 40 minutes more per week than non-parents, who average one hour and 51 minutes. While parents of young children face the daily school run, the ‘taxi of mum and dad’…
