POLITICIANS need to do more to help families, a charity has said as a survey found almost half of Britons think family life has become harder over the last 30 years.

Some 49 per cent of people in a poll commissioned by the charity 4Children said political parties should do more to help and 46 per cent believe family life is harder than three decades ago, a figure rising to 51 per cent among over-60s.

The YouGov poll found 49 per cent fear the future for children and young people will be worse than their own, with just 18 per cent saying it will be better and 22 per cent saying it will be about the same.

Anne Longfield, 4Children's chief executive, said: "All the main political parties know that the family vote will be key at the ballot box next year.

"With half of people calling for more support for children and families, it is clear that the scale of ambition needs to radically change.

"Families are looking to all the parties to set out what they will do to make Britain great for children and families.

"It is time for a real shift of ambition to give children and families the support they need to flourish."

She continued: "Families are our country's most valuable asset and political parties need to invest in them."

YouGov questioned 2,099 adults online between September 8 and September 9 for the survey.The data was weighted to be representative of British adults.