How often do you have contact with your children? According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, seniors and their children are communicating more than ever. In 1989 A gallup Poll found that 32% of seniors had daily contact with a family member; the Pew survey put this figure at 42%.

Part of this increase in contact stems from technological advances over the intervening period. While the telephone remains an important method of connecting between families and their parents, email has become an important additional method. Thirty percent of senior citizens reported that they have at least occasional email contact with their children. It is rare for there to be daily email contact, however.

Interestingly, those families that have daily email contact also tend to talk to each other in other ways every day. It seems that new means of communication are added to traditional methods, rather than substituting for them.

The Pew survey is very extensive, covering much more than electronic forms of communication. To read the full results, go to this article in Senior Journal.