Screen Time & Speech Delays: New UK Guidance for Under-5s

Government guidance on screen time for children under five will be developed following research linking prolonged viewing to poorer speech development, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is set to announce Monday.

Screen Time and Early Language Development

The advice will be created with input from parents, children, and early years practitioners. Research indicates that nearly all children – around 98% – are watching screens such as mobiles, tablets, and TV daily by age two, a critical period for language development.

Government research, released alongside the announcement, suggests a correlation between screen use and poorer language development in children under two. A survey of 4,758 parents revealed that children with the highest screen time – approximately five hours a day – demonstrated significantly fewer words compared to those with around 44 minutes of screen time.

“Parents, teachers and nursery workers talk about children arriving at nursery and school and finding it harder to hold conversations, focus, or engage in learning,” Phillipson added.

The guidance is expected to suggest integrating screens into activities like storytime or educational games.

The Princess of Wales recently warned that smartphones and computer screens were creating “an epidemic of disconnection” within families. In July, then-Technology Secretary Peter Kyle considered a two-hour daily limit per social media platform for children, though the policy was not implemented. Australia recently enacted a law banning under-16s from social media, though some young people are circumventing the restrictions.

Data released in April from the children’s commissioner for England revealed that 90% of secondary schools and 99.8% of primary schools already have policies restricting mobile phone use during the school day.

The national working group examining screen time guidance, led by children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza and scientific adviser Professor Russell Viner, will publish its terms of reference Monday. The group is expected to release the first guidance in April.

Phillipson stated, “I want this to be shaped with parents, not dictated to them, and we’ll be using our engagement sessions over the next few weeks to understand exactly what they want the guidance to include.” She added, “This is about offering clear, practical advice on how screens fit alongside the everyday activities that matter most in the early years, including talking, playing and reading together.”