Only one-in-thirty dads read to their children

Only three percent of dads read their children bedtime stories, according to a recent study.

That leaves twenty nine out of thirty dads who never read to their children.

Fathers blame late nights at the office and feeling tired when they get home from work for their lack of literary enthusiasm.

One in ten mothers never read to their children, with cleaning and cooking blamed as the main distraction for women.

Two thousand UK parents were polled in the UK study, commissioned by CITV to mark the launch of new children’s show Bookaboo.

Bookaboo creator Lucy Goodman believes that dads need to make more effort at reading.

Goodman said: “It’s important development-wise that young boys are able to share a book with dads, granddads or male carers and it can be fun and rewarding too. ”

Over half (57%) of British children spend at least two hours per day watching television, whilst one third (35%) spend a similar amount of time playing computer games.