According to a study by language learning app Preply, the average Brit spends nine hours per week making meaningless conversation. Trivial family matters are the most popular topic for small talk among Brits, followed by work-related gossip. Wolverhampton ranks as the UK's most talkative city, while Leeds, Hull, and Cardiff come bottom of the list.
Brits spend 36 minutes per week discussing the weather, equivalent to 31 hours per year. The most uncomfortable small talk topics include politics, personal problems, and dating or relationships. A Preply spokeswoman noted that small talk is woven into everyday life in Britain, playing a key role in social bonding and workplace relationships.
Nearly half of Brits find idle chat awkward and would rather have deeper, more meaningful conversations. However, 63% of Brits agree small talk is a necessary social skill, while 44% wish they were better at it. To avoid such interactions, 47% of people have used their phone, rising to 76% among 25-34-year-olds.
Start with safe topics. Focus on familiar, neutral subjects such as the weather, recent events, or travel experiences. These topics provide an easy way to begin a conversation and help both people feel comfortable.
According to Daily Mail - Home, Melissa Baerse Berk described starting with safe topics like the weather or travel as an easy way to begin conversations. Research by McCarthy & Stone reveals retirees spend an average of 24 hours per week on household chores. Retired Brits face 500 hours of household chores per year, equivalent to 21 days or an unpaid part-time job.
Cooking and meal prep takes an average of 10 hours per week for retirees, cleaning takes 7 hours, laundry 4 hours, and gardening or home maintenance up to 7 hours. The most dreaded chores are cleaning, cited by 36% of respondents, and ironing, at 31%. If chores were removed, 22% of over-55s would spend more time with family, 20% would explore new places and travel, and 22% would simply 'be'.
Chrissy Fice, Marketing Director at McCarthy & Stone, said the company is focused on creating communities and has increased in-apartment services to help with household chores, giving homeowners more freedom to enjoy a fulfilling later life. McCarthy & Stone's on-site maintenance teams handle almost 10,000 hours of chores per month or 120,000 hours per year. The sample size and methodology of the Preply study on small talk have not been disclosed, nor have those for the McCarthy & Stone research on retirees' chores.
It is unclear how these findings compare to previous years or other countries, and demographic breakdowns by gender or region are not available.