This report looks at the following areas:
- How parents divide up household chores and childcare
- How parenting concepts and behaviours differ between parents of different ages
- Parents’ concerns about different categories of children’s products
- Purchase of child-specific products for children of different ages
- Online information channels for parenting and children’s outfits
- The types of key opinion leaders (KOLs) followed and purchases of the products they recommend
- Concerns about children
Parental anxiety has become a common phenomenon in Chinese households. By helping younger parents to adopt more strategic approaches to child-rearing, brands can be by their side as they enjoy growing with their children.
Keiyou Wang, Director, China Insights
Market Definitions
This Report covers 3,000 internet users aged 20-49 with children aged 0-12. It aims to explore the needs of younger parents while raising their children as well as their expectations for brands, products and services. The Report explores how brands can market to younger families, investigating changes in parenting behaviours and attitudes, the factors considered when purchasing various products and trusted information channels.
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- The market
- Market factors
- Marketing activities
- New product trends
- The consumer
- More than 50% of younger fathers participate in their children’s education, while the absent parent phenomenon sees significant improvement
- Graph 1: share of household chores, 2024
- Mothers and fathers agree more than disagree on parenting attitudes and habits
- Graph 2: parenting attitudes and behaviours, by gender, 2024
- Younger parents who are digital natives tend to record their children’s upbringings on apps
- For general children’s products, word of mouth and being well-targeted are beaten only by materials/ingredients
- Dietary supplements and dental care products for older children represent an opportunity
- Graph 3: purchase of child-specific products, by age of youngest child, 2024
- The professionalism and authority of the official channels of childcare brands are widely recognised
- The retention and conversion capabilities of professional and experienced KOLs vs the customer acquisition strengths of personality-driven KOLs
- Graph 4: follow and purchase rates for different types of parenting KOLs, 2024
- Parents’ concerns ranked: health and fitness tops the list followed by mental strength and academic capabilities, turning the traditional order on its head
- Issues and insights
- What we think
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The market
- Market factors
- The number of newborns is declining, while the proportion of children aged 5-14 has increased
- Graph 5: number of newborns and birth rate, 2012-23
- The proportion of multi-child households is growing, meaning sharing and collaboration are valued in products
- Graph 6: childbirth plans, by single and multi-child families, 2024
- Financial confidence is recovering, which will help unlock younger families’ purchasing power
- Graph 7: confidence in their financial situation improving in the next three months – very confident/somewhat confident (aggregate), by age of children, 2021-24
- Utilitarian consumption loses its appeal while interest in the parent-child relationships grows
- Graph 8: changes of interaction with children after COVID-19, 2023
- The employment situation is uncertain, and parents are anxious about their children’s future
- Graph 9: most concerned – ‘my child’s studies/employment’, 2022-24
- AI is gaining attention, and large models are being integrated into children’s lives
- Marketing activities
- Discuss the new generation of parenting concepts with an open mind
- Children’s sports events can boost brands
- Respect children’s creativity and offer support to ‘make real’ and ‘be seen’
- Combine social responsibility and culture to create a sense of mission that resonates
- New product trends
- A smart children’s room fostering initiative and self-awareness
- Content platforms become AI teachers
- Shedding light on different ages and stages of growth
- A puzzle requiring patience, concentration and an adventurous spirit
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The consumer
- Division of household chores and childcare
- The burden of childcare and household chores mainly falls on mothers, but half of dads are involved in their children’s learning
- Graph 10: share of household chores, 2024
- The absent parent phenomenon is on the wane, with younger fathers actively participating in their children’s education
- Graph 11: share of household chores – children’s study, by generation, 2024
- In Tier 2 cities offering a better work-life balance, a higher proportion of couples collaborate on everyday chores
- Graph 12: share of household chores – cooking, by city tier, 2024
- Graph 13: share of household chores – purchases of daily necessities, by city tier, 2024
- Parenting attitudes and behaviours
- Mothers and fathers agree more than disagree on parenting attitudes and habits
- Graph 14: parenting attitudes and behaviours, by gender, 2024
- Girls are ‘raised with riches’, reflected in parents’ interest in arts and sports for their daughters
- Graph 15: select parenting attitudes and behaviours, by gender, 2024
- Younger parents who are digital natives tend to record their children’s upbringings on apps
- Graph 16: parenting attitudes and behaviours, by parents’ generation, 2024
- The time-investment gap between parents with different income levels is bigger than the education-investment gap
- Graph 17: parenting attitudes and behaviours, by monthly household income, 2024
- Consumption factors for different product categories
- For children’s products, word of mouth and being well-targeted are beaten only by materials/ingredients
- Graph 18: consumption factors for children’s products, 2024
- Parents in Tier 1 cities pay more attention to word of mouth for apparel, valuing personal opinions over received wisdom
- Graph 19: consumption factors – word of mouth, by city tier, 2024
- Precisely target products at primary school children and get insight into how parents and children interact in the digital age
- Graph 20: consumption factors – well-targeted, by age of youngest child, 2024
- Purchase of children’s products
- Dietary supplements and dental care products for older children represent an opportunity
- Graph 21: purchase of child-specific products, by age of youngest child, 2024
- Parents in fast-paced major cities are less able to prepare special meals for their children than parents in lower tier cities
- Graph 22: purchase of select child-specific products, by city tier, 2024
- Income only has a small impact on willingness to purchase child-specific dietary supplements, home textiles and home appliances, indicating their worth
- Graph 23: purchases of select child-specific products, by monthly household income, 2024
- Online information channels
- The professionalism and authority of the official channels of childcare brands are widely recognised
- Graph 24: online information sources for parenting, 2024
- Children’s outfits have a more social nature in lower tier cities
- Graph 25: online information channels – children’s outfits, by city tier, 2024
- Develop laddered products and services that support children’s growth to enhance the stickiness of childcare brands’ official channels
- Graph 26: online information channels, parenting forums (b), by age of youngest child, 2024
- Graph 27: online information channels – official channels for children’s product brands (a), by age of youngest child, 2024
- Types of parenting KOLs parents follow
- Professional and experienced KOLs are strong in retention and conversion, while personality-driven KOLs excel at acquisition
- Graph 28: follow and purchase rates for different types of parenting KOLs, 2024
- Parents in lower tier cities are more interested in routine sharing by parenting KOLs and are more likely to buy
- Graph 29: purchase rates for types of parenting KOLs, by city tier, 2024
- Graph 30: follow rates for types of parenting KOLs, by city tier, 2024
- Parents who keep app records follow and buy from KOLs more
- Graph 31: purchase rate for KOL types, by app recordkeeping habits, 2024
- Graph 32: KOL types followed, by app recordkeeping habits, 2024
- Concerns about children
- Parents’ concerns ranked: health and fitness tops the list followed by mental strength and academic capabilities, turning the traditional order on its head
- Graph 33: concerns about children’s behaviour, 2024
- Children from higher income families may have more issues with independence and capriciousness
- Graph 34: concerns about children’s behaviour, by monthly household income, 2024
- The advantages and disadvantages of setting a daily schedule for children are worth exploring
- Graph 35: concerns about children’s behaviour, by “I would set up daily schedules for my child”, 2024
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Issues and insights
- Technology can make it yours and put the ‘fun’ in function
- Borrow from 3D printing to meet diverse and personalised nutritional needs
- Doppelganger technology can offer the necessary warmth of companionship
- Set challenges not goals to awaken initiative and independence
- Help children find the courage to try things out without fear of failure
- Well-rounded thinking is about recognising the beauty in people and things, and accepting imperfection
- Unconditional love heals a sense of meaninglessness
- Leverage the power of charity to connect parents and children
- Family rituals are developed by doing things together
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Appendix – methodology and abbreviations
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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