It seems that something still doesn’t sit quite right in the UK in comparison with its European neighbours, despite consistently high living standards. Buying up everything modern society has to offer is assumed to be synonymous with a high quality of life by many Brits. The statistics suggest otherwise. According to a study carried out by UNICEF, a fear of "brand bullying" is taking hold of British parents, causing damage to family relationships and warping the younger generations' perception of what is truly valuable in life.

The extensive study compared families in the UK, Spain and Sweden. Parents and children were quizzed about quotidian family life, and why they felt compelled to keep up with trends. The findings revealed that, despite an overriding compulsion to buy top brands, a high percentage of participants said that they felt that time with family and friends and engaging in creative or active pursuits was what brought real satisfaction to children. It seems that branded products are merely a symbol of status rather than possessions to be cherished or put to good use. Even more tellingly, it was the more affluent families included in the study who placed more emphasis upon outdoor and extracurricular activities rather than flashy phones and games consoles. Could it be that class snobbery is still making an impact on people’s lives?  It is a terrible shame, but these results clearly indicate that families who earn less force themselves to buy such products out of insecurity, a compulsion known as conspicuous consumption, making it clear that parents are self-conscious about the relative affluence of their family compared to other, wealthier, families. In my opinion, the spending cycle cannot possibly be stopped while people are still putting up a false front about their true economic situation.

The study also revealed that Spanish and Swedish families were more confident in their parenting abilities and were far more comfortable about talking their problems through together rather than ignoring them. Spanish and Swedish children also displayed an understanding of their parents’ financial situations far more thoroughly than British children.  Should children be expected to take such an active interest in their parents’ finances during the most carefree period of their lives? While it is natural to want your children to experience a stress-free childhood and to want for nothing, I feel that it is essential that they have a grasp of the relative value of money and possessions as early as possible, making parenting easier and financial troubles less likely in the long run.

Collectively, these results seem to point to a serious lack of self-esteem in British families. A vicious cycle has begun to appear in the pattern of family life; parents work longer hours, spend less time with their children, lavish their hard-earned cash on the latest accessories to parade in front of their peers, and end up working some more to keep up with such trends. Fears that children will be targeted by their peers for not having flashy possessions are somewhat unfounded. While respondents demonstrated a slight obsession with having the latest version of the Blackberry or iPhone, many confessed to a preference for family time and sharing experiences with friends. British parents need to trust their own instincts and go back to basics by simply spending time together. Sitting the whole family down for a meal, going on family outings, even playing board games together can strengthen the bond and sense of security between family members. It is not always easy to find the time to keep a family together, as demonstrated by many Spanish mothers who felt that they had sacrificed time for themselves in the name of the family. However, it was unanimously agreed that the close knit family relationships created were worth the effort. Personally I would agree; you may be able to scrape together the cash for a new Mac if you’re savvy enough about saving and earning for yourself, but there is nothing more priceless than savouring family time that you won’t be able to get back once children have grown up and flown the nest.

Spain, Sweden, and the UK shared very similar worries about money and finances, but the difference lies in how each country handles such matters. European nations know how to prioritise and teach their children about money, and about the value of family life. It can only be a good thing to have a nation full of active, happy children who are not constantly throwing strops about not having a PS3 or the latest version of the iPad, and who genuinely enjoy the simpler things in life. There is a limit as to how far the nation’s parents can stretch until both their finances as well as their home life begin to suffer.