A TV shepherdess and a mother of nine has blamed parents for today’s ‘snowflake’ generation of children who cannot look after themselves.

Amanda Owen, the star of popular series Our Yorkshire Farm – which follows her life farming sheep with her husband, Clive, in a remote farm on the Yorkshire Dales – said today’s youngsters had “no sense of independence” or work ethic.

The 46-year-old Channel 5 star, who revealed she gave birth to her eighth child on her own after deciding she could handle the task by herself, said she has instilled a sense of independence in their offspring.

“The snowflake generation, they can’t do anything,” She told the Radio Times.

“They don’t know anything about how to look after themselves, or a work ethic, all of that has gone out of the window. It’s our fault as parents,” Owen said.

“If you put your child on a pedestal, with no sense of independence, and think you have got to entertain them the whole time, what can you expect?”

“I rebuff swaddling children, because I want to see them go on and do well and be themselves, whatever that is. I feel like it is their life and all I do is prepare them.”

“What we do on the farm, hopefully, is preparation for the big world. The lessons they get here will stand them in good stead.”

Owen, whose husband is 21 years her senior at 66, said she had wanted her children to make the most of the independence she has allowed, including when it comes to home-schooling.

Owen met her husband in 1996 when he was already divorced with 2 children, after she arrived at his farm as a 21-year-old trainee shepherdess. They quickly fell in love despite the age gap.