Strange but true. The 02 Digital Families report was commissioned in order to get a grasp on the impact that technology has on family life in the UK. Perhaps unsurprisingly it revealed a nation obsessed by gadgets, with 40 percent of UK families spending 10 percent of their household budgets on gadgets. What kind of gadgets? Well the report reckons that the average UK home has:

• 3.0 mobile phones
• 2.4 TVs
• 2.4 games consoles
• 2.2 MP3 players
• 1.6 computers

One in three parents asked said that access to email and the Internet on the move makes it easier to balance their work and family responsibilities, with just six percent saying it made these things harder to balance.

The research also showed that rather than the stereotype of kids locked away in their rooms playing computer games, more than half of the families asked said they play games consoles together as a family and a third of parents surf the net with their children. One in five parents even keep in touch with their families through social networks. In total, 60 percent of parents claim that technology such as email and mobile phones helps us communicate better as a family.

The biggest surprise, however, has to be that "most of the families we spoke to would rather cut down on food and utility bills than their internet connection" according to the press release announcing the findings. So broadband crazy Brits would rather go hungry than go offline? I somehow doubt that, if push came to shove.