The Childhood Memories Survey
So much for nostalgia. So much for not looking back in anger.
By Andrew Burmon
Only 5% Reported having an abnormal childhood.
74% Had high expectations for themselves as kids.
71% Felt their parents were dependable.
61% Felt loved by the parents.
The Upper Middle Childhood Memories Survey examined how members of the professional managerial class think about their early years and found a startling lack of nostalgia.
The data indicates that upper-middle class adults tend to be happier than upper-middle class children – or at least believe themselves to be happier.
The survey data makes it very clear why and, unsurprisingly, fingers are pointed rather accusingly at mom and dad.
Results suggest the sort-of structured, expectation-laden upbringing most associated with professional success does not, in and of itself, make for an unhappy childhood, but that parental ambition can threaten the interior lives of children.
Ambivalence Fewer than half (47%) of Upper Middle readers report having had happy childhoods and nearly a quarter (28%) report having had unhappy childhoods.
Childhood happiness – or later recollection of childhood happiness – is strongly correlated to age.
Survey respondents in their late 30s and 40s were the most likely (55-57%) to report happy childhoods (presumably because the nineties were pretty great).
Respondents in their early 30s (44%) and those 60+ (44%) were less positive.
Respondents 25-year-old or younger were less positive still – only 7% reported a happy childhood .
(Blame Zuckerberg?) Does an unhappy childhood produce an unhappy adulthood? The answer, encouragingly, is a qualified "no." Though survey respondents who reported unhappy childhoods were less likely to report being happy adults, 51% of those with unhappy childhoods still describe themselves as happy – and slightly more (53%) describe themselves as "well-adjusted." It does, indeed, get better.
The question most predictive of happy or unhappy childhoods was whether parents demonstrated affection openly and frequently at home.
Those who grew up with openly affectionate parents (42%) were more likely (69%) than any other group to report having had a happy childhood.
Those that grew up with parents who did not demonstrate affection (40%) were more likely (38%) than any other group to report having had an unhappy childhood.
Unsurprisingly, a lack of affection was strongly correlated with anger towards parents – respondents from non-affectionate homes carried parental anger at 45%, more than double the 21% rate among those from affectionate homes.
Respondents raised with financial security but not open affection do not report better outcomes than respondents raised with neither.
Hugs matter.
The vast majority of survey respondents (70%) reported that their parents had high expectations for them and most of those respondents (84%) reported that they, in turn, had high expectations for themselves and became willing participants in their parents' project.
High expectations were correlated to having participated in a lot of organized activities – lessons, teams, enrichment programs.
But survey responses don't support the nostalgic idea of free-range childhood.
Respondents who grew up with less unstructured free ti
