A third of women consider themselves to be a better parent than their partner, according to new research from YouGov, while a third of men think they are a worse parent than their partner.

Around half of all the parents surveyed who were raising a child with a partner said they think they and their co-parent are both equally good (54% of men, 53% of women).

But 34% of women felt they were better at parenting than their partner, while 32% of men said they considered their partner to be the better parent. The survey included both heterosexual and same-sex parents.

Only 6% of women felt their partners were better, and similarly, just 6% of men believe themselves a better parent than their partner.

The survey of 1,000 parents with kids under 18 found that anxiety is high among parents of both genders – over two thirds said they worry either “very often” or “often” about how well they are raising their children.

Yet the majority of both mums and dads actually consider themselves to be “good” parents.

Mums were more likely than dads to worry about how well they were parenting, and the more highly people rated their parenting skills, the less likely they were to worry.

Among self-reported “excellent” fathers, 56% worry very or quite frequently, compared to 60% of “excellent” mothers.

Six in ten (58%) of all parents who consider their parenting to be “excellent” say they worry “very often” or “quite often” – a percentage that rises to to 71% among self-described “good” parents and 76% among those believing their child-rearing skills are “average”.

The majority of mums and dads (55%) consider themselves to be “good” parents. One in eight (13%) go even further, calling themselves “excellent” parents, while a quarter (26%) feel that they are only “average” parents.

Ben Glanville, Head of YouGov Omnibus UK said: “Our data confirms how fretful parents can be when it comes to how they are raising their children.

“Generally, it is positive situation, with the majority of mums and dads rating themselves as good parents.

“A notable part of the study is the number of fathers that say their partner is the ‘better’ parent, and the percentage of mothers that say that they themselves are.”