Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? It might be your parents…
New stats from Uber highlight Kiwi parents’ concern for their adult ‘children’

Watch out party goers! Almost a quarter (24%) of Kiwi parents have checked up on their adult children during a night out without their knowledge. Of these extra vigilant parents, 31% stalk their social media channels for updates and 23% admit to checking up on them from their car.

And when these parents aren’t checking in on their kids or picking them up, they’re at home worrying. One quarter (25%) of New Zealand parents have the same number of sleepless nights worrying about their adult ‘children’ as they did when they were babies or toddlers, and 17% say the have more sleepless nights now their children are adults.

These are some of the results of new research, commissioned by Uber, which surveyed 300 parents in Aotearoa with children aged 18-30 about their worries when their children go out at night.

Further results from the survey reveal:
• 15% of parents still pick their adult children up after a night out
o While most parents stop picking up their children from a night out once they get to 20 years of age, 15% of parents of 30-year-olds still collect their children like a taxi service.
• Over the last year, 25% of parents have had between two and five sleepless nights while their ‘children’ have been out.
o While teenagers caused the most sleepless nights (13-18 year-olds prompted the biggest lack of sleep), 15% of parents admitted their most sleepless nights were when their children were between 19 and 21-years-old.
• When it comes to outings, parents are most concerned about their children going to clubs and bars, with one third (33%) saying this was a source of concern.

Telling Mum and Dad you’re safe

So are Kiwis letting their parents know when they get home from the clubs safely? Every now and then. Barely a third (36%) of us “sometimes” let our parents know when we’ve gotten home after a night out - and it’s usually with a text message (80%). That’s a lot of sleepless nights for parents that could easily be avoided.

Only 3% of us share alerts through an app. This is despite the fact that the “Share My Trip” feature in the Uber app makes it easy to share live trip details with up to five trusted contacts at the tap of a button.

Amanda Gilmore, Uber’s New Zealand Country Manager recommended Kiwis consider setting up their Trusted Contacts in the app before their next night out.

“The Uber app lets you share your journey with friends and family so everyone knows when you arrive home safely. If the results of this survey are anything to go by, there’s a lot of 18-30 year olds who could set up mum and dad as one of their Trusted Contacts.

”Being able to track your safe return on the GPS may help Mum and Dad get a full night’s sleep, and stop them from shadowing you on your night out,” she said.

“The safety of the riders and driver-partners is incredibly important to Uber, and over the last 18 months we have introduced many new features in Aotearoa to increase peace of mind for all users.”

Since launching in May 2014, Uber has grown to include seven NZ cities with over 485,000 Kiwis regularly choosing to share rides with more than 6,500 driver-partners.

The “Share My Trip” feature is one of the many tech features highlighted in Uber’s latest campaign, ‘Safety Never Stops’. Every Uber journey is GPS-tracked, while keeping your phone number and address anonymous. The app offers 24/7 support and a dedicated safety centre where you can add your trusted contacts. You can see all of the safety features for both riders and licensed drivers athttps://www.uber.com/SafetyNeverStops/

ENDS

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