Following Katie Hopkins' controversial interview on ITV1's This Morning, a poll of over 300 UK parents revealed that 66% would NEVER miss their child's special day and 25% would only miss it in a 'true emergency'.
The ex-Apprentice contestant criticised mothers for turning birthdays into an 'emotional saga', claiming that she holds one group party for her three children every other year and that her hectic work schedule takes priority over birthdays.
However, Katie's opinion is not shared by mothers on parenting website Babies.co.uk, with only 5% admitting they would miss their child's birthday for a 'work commitment', 2% for a 'social commitment' and 1% for 'either a work or social commitment'; 8% in total.
According to Managing Director Sue Cooke of party suppliers BalloonsGalore.co.uk, who conducted the survey in partnership with parenting website Babies.co.uk, "Despite what Katie Hopkins said on This Morning, our poll suggests that most parents wouldn't dream of missing their child's birthday."
"In our experience, at most birthday parties the parents are just as excited as the children."
James Macfarlane, Managing Director of parenting website Babies.co.uk, added, "Many of our users disagreed with Katie Hopkins' comments. A birthday only comes along once a year and most parents will put work to one side to celebrate with their child. They think this is a small sacrifice to make."
Katie Hopkins sparked a reaction in an earlier interview saying that she won't let her children play with school friends with certain names. The outspoken businesswoman has also criticised stay-at-home mothers, dubbing them the 'mammary militia'. 95% of over 14,000 respondents to a similar poll on This Morning said that it was 'not okay' for parents to miss their child's birthday.