Q. Thinking about your college kid(s), how prepared do you feel they are to clean their own space?
- 26% said completely prepared
- 38% said very prepared
- 29% said somewhat prepared
- 5% said not very prepared
- 2% said not at all prepared
Q. Which of the following, if any, do you think prevents your college kid(s) from keeping their space clean?
- 56% said lack of motivation
- 46% said lack of time
- 24% said roommate(s) get in the way of them cleaning
- 17% said don’t know the right way to clean
- 14% said don’t have the cleaning supplies they need
- 1% said other - 13% said none of these
Q. How concerned are you that your college kid(s) doesn’t know how to use cleaning products effectively?
- 8% said extremely concerned
- 12% said very concerned
- 24% said somewhat concerned
- 20% said a little concerned
- 36% said not concerned at all
Q. How often does your college kid(s) do their own laundry at home?
- 28% said all the time
- 27% said often
- 27% said sometimes
- 11% said rarely
- 7% said never
Q. Which of these do you suspect your college kid(s) will do during their college year?
- 49% said bring home dirty laundry expecting a family member to wash it
- 39% said mistakenly throw out an important piece of paperwork due to a cluttered desk
- 36% said wear dirty clothes because they forgot to do the laundry
- 34% said kick or move trash under the furniture instead of picking it up
- 24% said go a semester without changing their sheets
- 24% said have a stinking fridge from not cleaning it or removing old food
- 16% said break an appliance or throw one away due to not following cleaning instructions
- 14% said owe a fee or fine to the dorm or property management due to inadequate cleaning
- 21% said none of the above
Methodological Notes:
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) College Parents Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 500 US parents of college undergraduates, between June 15th and June 22nd, 2023, using an email invitation and an online survey.
Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4.4 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.