I like to pretend I’m a pretty lazy parent. I often quip that I parent with a sense of humour and am definitely not one of those Pritt-stick wielding mums that enjoys crafting with their tots. You’re far more likely to see me down the park reading a book on a nearby bench whilst my little terrorists climb, swing and scurry up play equipment that is much too old for them. I believe children learn by their own mistakes and should be given as much freedom as possible to make them. My role is to be on hand with the plasters and a quick cuddle when it inevitably goes wrong.

However, time and time again my anxiety strikes and my true colours as a “worrier” burst forth like a busted kaleidoscope. No better was this illustrated than yesterday when one of Dexter’s nursery teachers deftly plucked an excited wriggling Dex from my arms at his first ever drop-off. With raised eyebrows she curtly informed me “He’ll be fine. You can leave now mum“. She had correctly predicted the floodgates were about to open and I was about to embarrass myself in front of dozens of other parents.

These anxieties often take a darker turn too. I’m forever watching Newsnight in bed, then waking up a snoring Craig to tell him that the world is ending. This country often scares me, and has fueled our plans to emigrate - not least for the sake of our children’s future. Plasters and mummy kisses can’t fix a broken and fragile economy.

The repercussions of the financial crisis are enormous. As a family we now really struggle. Whereas before, we looked on at excessive house prices / rents as an amusing subplot, it’s now an all-consuming worry. Having stepped off the housing ladder ourselves (quite deliberately) we now can’t afford to climb back on. If we can’t afford it, how will our children? Our only opportunity will be when our parents pass away and their homes come to us by way of inheritance. Given we plan on hanging around as long as possible, we don’t want the same for Dexter and Heidi.

So when I recently stumbled on this post by Pocketful of Rye, sharing the results of a survey commissioned by My Voucher Codes, it really made me think. They asked over 1000 families here in the UK what most concerned them about their children’s future and broke the results down by region. Here’s the top-line:

London - Financial instability and economy – 48%
Scotland - Extremism, terrorism and safety – 30%
South West - Extremism, terrorism and safety – 43%
South East - House prices and high rents – 75%
Wales - Financial instability and economy – 60%
West Midlands - Financial instability and economy – 71%
East Midlands - House prices and high rents – 40%
Yorkshire & the Humber - Financial instability and economy – 60%
North East - Financial instability and economy – 57%
North West - Extremism, terrorism and safety – 68%
Northern Ireland - House prices and high rents – 33%

Whereas at first glance it would seem my own concerns neatly support the results (I’m in the South East), in fact they’re a real mix of all of the above. Although I hope, by the time the kids are of working age, that the economy will have miraculously reset, I do worry they’ll never experience a boom quite like we did in the 80s. Craig is old enough to have experienced this firsthand, whereas I did so indirectly via my parents. As an 80s child we had a large home, all of life’s luxuries and went on some epic holidays. Although, of course, I want my children to exercise financial caution and prudence, their own first paychecks will be under far stricter scrutiny than ours ever were.

Yet extremism and terrorism are also a MAJOR concern for me. I simply don’t believe this country is equipped to deal with the growing potential for civil unrest. We have a population of 650 people per square mile with a large proportion of us residing in terraced houses in tightly packed towns and cities. Although I don’t ascribe to the view that Britain is full, and do share in the compassion many of us have physically, financially and emotionally expressed towards asylum seekers and refugees, I do worry that our bulging communities could end up playing host to pockets of religious or political fundamentalism.

Let me be clear. I am not pointing the finger at any particular faith or group, nor do I resent living in a multi-faith community - rather I feel it enriches us as a nation. I do however feel that one day this idealist bubble will burst thanks to a die-hard few - either from within or outside our borders. In fact, the pin could just as likely come from a nation beset by political instability, or from a racist sect.

Although 99.99999% of us respect our neighbours and enjoy living within full and vibrant communities, it only takes a handful of deluded people to shatter the peace, and where better for this to happen than in such a densely populated environment. In fact our density as a nation would make any riot, bombing or otherwise even more devastating.

In it’s crudest sense, I don’t believe Cameron, Brown, Blair or otherwise have done enough to nip dangerous rhetoric and narratives in the bud, and neither have we. My only hope is that my children can enjoy the relative religious freedom we have today and not be repressed by the few that so incalculably want to destroy it.

What do you think? Do you worry about your children’s future here in the UK?