YouTube Statistics for Kids and Teens (2026)
Current YouTube usage, screen-time and harmful-content statistics for children and teens, with charts, CSV downloads and primary sources.
YouTube reaches children well before their teen years, and daily viewing is common. This page collects recent figures from Pew Research Center, Common Sense Media and Australia's eSafety Commissioner. Every number keeps its age range, country and source attached.
What the data shows
These charts compare figures within the same study. They are useful snapshots, but they are not one global dataset. Parent reports, child surveys and measured time answer different questions.
YouTube use among US teens
Share of US teens ages 13 to 17, reported by Pew Research Center in 2025.
YouTube use among US children
What parents of children age 12 and younger reported to Pew Research Center in 2025.
Harmful-content exposure in Australia
A national eSafety survey of children ages 10 to 17, conducted in late 2024 and early 2025.
YouTube use and online harm
90% of US teens have used YouTube
YouTube was the most-used platform in Pew Research Center's survey of US teens.
Source: Pew Research Center, "5 facts about Americans and YouTube" (Feb 28, 2025)
73% of US teens use YouTube daily
Daily use includes 15% who said they used YouTube almost constantly.
Source: Pew Research Center, "5 facts about Americans and YouTube" (Feb 28, 2025)
15% of US teens use YouTube almost constantly
This group is included within the 73% who use YouTube daily.
Source: Pew Research Center, "5 facts about Americans and YouTube" (Feb 28, 2025)
85% of US parents say their child watches YouTube
About half of parents said their child watched YouTube every day.
Source: Pew Research Center, "How Parents Manage Screen Time for Kids" (Oct 8, 2025)
51% of US parents say their child watches YouTube daily
Pew reported an increase from 43% in 2020 to 51% in 2025.
Source: Pew Research Center, "How Parents Manage Screen Time for Kids" (Oct 8, 2025)
62% of US parents say their child under 2 watches YouTube
This rose from 45% in Pew's 2020 survey.
Source: Pew Research Center, "How Parents Manage Screen Time for Kids" (Oct 8, 2025)
74% of Australian children surveyed had encountered harmful content online
The eSafety Commissioner defined this as content associated with harm and measured lifetime exposure.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, "Online experiences of children in Australia" (2026)
63% encountered harmful content in the previous 12 months
The nationally representative survey included 3,454 Australian children.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, "Online experiences of children in Australia" (2026)
32% said their most recent harmful-content exposure happened on YouTube
YouTube was the most common named platform in this follow-up group, ahead of TikTok at 24%.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, "Online experiences of children in Australia" (2026)
69% said their most recent exposure was accidental
Examples included content appearing in a pop-up or social media feed.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, "Online experiences of children in Australia" (2026)
Young children and screen time
Children ages 0-8 average about 2.5 hours of screen media per day
The overall average remained steady compared with the previous census in 2020.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight"
Children ages 5-8 average nearly 3.5 hours of screen media per day
Older children in the survey spent about an hour more with screen media than the 0-8 average.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight"
Children ages 0-8 average 28 minutes of longer YouTube videos per day
The report measured longer YouTube videos separately from short-form video.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight"
Children ages 0-8 average 14 minutes of short-form video per day
The figure combines TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. It is not a YouTube-only measure.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight"
62% of parents watch YouTube with their young child occasionally
YouTube was far more commonly co-viewed than TikTok, which was reported by 17% of parents.
Source: Common Sense Media, "2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight"
Methodology and limits
We use the newest primary source we can verify and link directly to it. We do not combine samples from different countries or age groups into a single percentage.
Pew's figures are surveys of US teens or parents. Common Sense Media surveyed US parents of children age 8 and younger. The eSafety Commissioner surveyed 3,454 Australian children ages 10 to 17 between December 2024 and February 2025.
The eSafety finding that names YouTube comes from a follow-up group of 743 children who had a recent or impactful harmful-content experience. It does not mean that 32% of all Australian children saw harmful content on YouTube.
We found no reliable YouTube-only figure for children's use of Shorts. The Common Sense figure combines TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, so we report it that way.
Turn the figures into a safer setup
The companion checklist covers accounts, approved content, Shorts, device controls and household or classroom routines. It is designed to print cleanly on ordinary paper.
Open the YouTube safety checklistWhere to go next
Read the practical guide to YouTube screen time by age or see what parents can do about YouTube Shorts.
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