A market study conducted by the Multiloc lock company through the Geocartography Institute before the start of the school year shows that 33.7% of children lose the key to the main front door of the house. The study was conducted among a national sample of 502 parents of children aged 7-18.
The study also shows that in 1% of cases the key is stolen from bags, in 1.4% the key is stolen along with bags, in 5.2% kids forgot the key at school, 8.8% forgot the key at a friend's house or at an after-school activity and in 13.7% of the cases the key fell out of their bag or pocket.
Kids a security issue
Parents are especially afraid of the possibility that a thief will find the key and break into their home.
Another figure reveals that kids from the center of Israel are apparently more apt to lose keys than their peers in the Sharon area and the north; 37% of kids in the center will lose their keys compared to 25% of kids from the Sharon area and 31% of the kids in the north area.
Due to the extent of the frustrating phenomenon, 32.1% of parents are afraid to give house keys to their kids — most of those being young parents aged 18-34.
According to Shmulik Sternshus, CEO of the Multilock Group, there are several ways to handle this issue. Solutions include smart door locking systems that allow opening and locking with a fingerprint, code, remote control or smartphone app. Sales of these systems have recently increased by 60%.