When on the quest of happiness we’re constantly told that having money and a successful career to fund buying material possessions are what will make us happy.

Parenting on Female First

Parenting on Female First

But living in the lap of luxury may not be the key to happiness as new research has shown what makes us the happiest is spending time with our family.

A family day out was rated one of life’s biggest luxuries, followed by dining out with the family, and spending quality time together.

All of these things easily beat the ‘traditional’ luxuries of having a nice car, plenty of money, designer clothes, and luxury holidays.

Nigel Chapman, founder of Luxury Family Hotels who conducted the research, said, “It is very telling that quality time as a family was seen as the most important priority for a large majority parents over and above material possessions, money and careers.

“Society is increasingly materialistic and the message from modern celebrities seems to be that fashion, exotic foreign holidays and bling are the important things.

“But this research proves that British most parents still believe there is more to life than simply working and spending their hard-earned wages on material possessions like cars and designer clothes.”

Despite spending quality time with the family topping the list, it seems that there is a way to go before we can put aside work guilt-free to do so.

Two thirds of Brits said that in order to fund the expense of spending time with their family, they have to work hard to achieve their financial goals.