Child Online Safety Statistics: YouTube Usage and Screen Time (2026)
Sourced statistics on how many kids and teens use YouTube, how often, and how much daily screen time young children spend on video, from Pew Research and Common Sense Media.
YouTube is close to universal among teens and a daily habit for most of them. Here is what the sourced data actually says, with a link to the original report for every figure.
Teen YouTube usage
~90% of US teens (13-17) have used YouTube
YouTube remains the single most-used platform among US teens, with about three-quarters saying they use it every day.
Source: Pew Research Center, "Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025" (Dec 9, 2025)
9-in-10 teens used YouTube in 2024, down slightly from 95% in 2022
73% of teens said they visited or used YouTube daily in 2024, the highest daily-use figure of any platform measured.
Source: Pew Research Center, "Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024" (Dec 12, 2024)
Young children (ages 0-8) and screen time
Children ages 0-8 average about 2.5 hours of screen time per day
That average rises to nearly 3.5 hours per day for the 5-8 age band specifically.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight" (Feb 26, 2025)
62% of parents watch YouTube with their child occasionally
That compares with just 17% of parents who say the same about TikTok, making YouTube by far the most common co-viewed platform for young children.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight" (Feb 26, 2025)
Kids under 8 average about 14 minutes of short-form video per day
This figure combines short-form video time across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts; the report does not break out YouTube Shorts alone.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight" (Feb 26, 2025)
What we did not include
We looked for a standalone statistic on YouTube Shorts usage among children and a statistic on algorithmic recommendation exposure for minors. Neither had a source we could verify directly, so neither appears above. We also found UK figures referenced in secondary coverage of Ofcom's research, but could not confirm the exact percentages against Ofcom's own report, so we left those out rather than repeat an unverified number.
Why this matters for a YouTube whitelist
Most teens use YouTube daily, and most parents of young kids are already watching it alongside them. A whitelist does not cut that time down. It just decides what fills it: channels a parent picked, not whatever autoplay serves up next.
For more on daily screen-time guidance and the risks of short-form video, see how much YouTube screen time is reasonable for kids and why YouTube Shorts are a particular concern.
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