The shrinking size of the UK family means that sharing could soon become a thing of the past according to a new report on sharing habits conducted by leading child psychologist Dr Pat Spungin of raisingkids.co.uk.

The biggest survey of its kind into parents attitudes to childrens sharing habits quizzed 1500 mums from all over the UK and was carried out on behalf of new Kelloggs Nutri-Grain Minis, bite-sized versions of the Number One cereal bar which are specifically designed for sharing.

Parents' concerns
Over 40% of all parents are
concerned that their children arent learning to share and 45% of parents believe that having fewer brothers and sisters makes it more difficult for their kids to learn to share. Parents of only children are particularly concerned - 6 out of 10 parents thought that learning to share was difficult for that child.

Types of mum
The research also concluded that there are 3 types of great British mum when it comes to sharing The Enforcer, The Equaliser and The Delegator. The Enforcer (12%) is the mum who lays down the law about who gets what, The Equaliser (40%) makes sure they all get exactly the same whereas The Delegator (24%) insists that the kids decide how to share between themselves. A further 15% of mums chose to avoid the issue altogether.

Other findings included:

• The sharing habits of children were found to be wildly different according to age but not by gender. Sharing is something which is learned and older children are therefore better than their younger siblings
• By the age of 3, 62% of parents expect their children to share. 22% expect younger children to know how to share though most psychologists would think this too early
• Most fights about sharing centre on TV programmes and toys
• 43% of parents thought that having more material possessions makes children less inclined to share
• 8 out of 10 parents believe it is their responsibility to teach their child about sharing. This figure is highest for the parents of only children; they believe that sharing is not learned from experience (with brothers and sisters) but is taught by mothers and fathers
• The eldest child often engages in Unequal Sharing, sometimes because of special pleading. First-born are generally judged to be good at sharing and often take charge of sharing out

Mum-of-three Dr Spungin, CEO and founder of the UKs leading on-line parenting magazine raisingkids.co.uk, said: 'In previous generations families had very little. What they had was shared among many children and sharing was part of every childs experience.'

'Now families are smaller and parents can afford to give their children many things, so the necessity for sharing has gone. Outside the family, at school and among friends children have to share. Parents realise this and 82% of parents believe it is their responsibility to teach sharing.'

'Children learn different things from mums different strategies. The children of an Enforcer will try to get her to change her mind, usually with cries of Its not fair! If its an Equaliser and Share and share alike is the rule, then children pay great attention to who gets what and their cry will be Hes got more than me!

'When The Delegator says Its up to you to sort it out between you, she encourages her kids to work together to find a solution'.

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