The demands of modern living are starving the family of precious time together with a new study finding the average family spending less than eight hours together per week.

The Daily Mail is reporting on the survey of 2,000 parents conducted by Virgin Holidays and Universal Orlando Resort found that the average family spends less than a half hour of quality time together during the week with work schedules, chores, and school routines devouring most of their time together.

Even when they are together, seven in ten parents say the time is spent sitting in silence in front of the television either reading, playing computer games, or just being too tired to talk.

Weekends are somewhat better with an average of two hours and twenty minutes of family time spent on Saturdays and Sundays.

The survey found that 56 percent of parents said they book a vacation away from home just for the sake of enjoying some real time with their family beyond the demands of daily life.

The parents polled listed the following top 10 reasons why their families don't have enough time together:

1. Myself or my partner work long hours

2. We spend our evenings/weekend keeping up with household chores

3. The children are at school when I'm not working

4. The children are often watching TV

5. Myself or my partner work anti-social hours

6. The children are often playing computer games

7. The children are at an age where they don't really want to spend time with us

8. The children are often out with friends

9. The children spend their evenings studying

10. We spend a lot of time at various sports/after school clubs separately

"Families are busier than ever," the survey states. "Parents are working, children are at school and the evening and weekends are taken up with a host of clubs, sports and play dates with friends. But this means that many families struggle with really getting to spend some time together and just enjoy each other's company for a while."

It adds: "And grandparents fare even worse as they seem to be a long way down the list of priorities when it comes to squeezing in the visits during the busy weekends. Instead of getting to enjoy their grandchildren growing up, many have to make do with quick visits on special occasions or snatched moments in between weekend activities."

Family gatherings that involve multiple generations getting together are also becoming an exception rather than a rule. And when these rare occasions do occur, they're usually for weddings or other affairs that require people to behave in a certain way rather than just be together to talk and enjoy one another.

A family getaway may be the only way to make up for lost time.

"With the summer holidays looming though, we'd urge families to see it as a time to re-establish bonds and create some really precious memories."

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