US Baby and Children’s Clothing Market Report 2025
The US baby and children's clothing market is experiencing significant shifts due to declining birth rates, economic uncertainty and changing consumer preferences.
Trusted by leading global brands
Collapse All
-
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- The baby and children’s clothing market is currently expected to remain stable; though ongoing challenges and uncertainty could cause disruption
- Market predictions
- What consumers want and why
- Opportunities
-
Market Dynamics
- Market context
- Market drivers
- Declining birth rates are a threat to the baby and children’s market
- Graph 1: annual births, general fertility rate and birth rate, 2014-23
- There are fewer households with children
- The growing importance of diversity to appeal to modern families
- Parents can’t avoid the need for baby and children’s clothing – but they can find ways to save
- Market size and forecast
- Slow, but steady outlook for baby and children’s clothing
- Slow, but steady outlook for baby and children’s clothing (cont.)
- Retail sales and forecast of baby and children’s clothing
-
CONSUMER INSIGHTS
- Baby and children’s clothing consumer fast facts
- Baby and children’s clothing consumer fast facts (cont.)
- Shopping frequency
- Babies’ wardrobes need a constant refresh
- Graph 2: shopping frequency, by children in household, 2025
- Parents rely on sales and promotions
- Magnetic Me offers a rewards program to drive loyalty
- Moms are a key target for the category
- Graph 3: shopping frequency, by parental status gender, 2025
- Pehr leverages Mother’s Day to appeal to mothers
- Items purchased
- Lower-value items are an easy way to refresh the wardrobe
- Graph 4: items purchased, 2025
- Redefine the wardrobe norms
- Graph 5: Items purchased, 2025
- The Milk Crew provides style, fun and comfort to children’s wardrobes
- The wardrobes of children under 2 years old tend to be basic and functional
- Graph 6: items purchased, by children in household, 2025
- Retailers shopped
- Parents want convenient and affordable ways to shop for their kids
- Graph 7: retailers shopped, by children in household, 2025
- Carter’s offers a wide range of products and affordability
- Shopping preferences are evolving
- Graph 8: retailers shopped, by generation of parent, 2024
- Shopping influences
- Children’s preferences and social media are top influential factors
- Graph 9: shopping influences, 2025
- Justice aims to find a balance serving girls and parents with its content
- Support networks influence the shopping decisions of parents with children under age 2
- Graph 10: shopping influences, by children in household, 2025
- Social media is paramount to connect with parents, especially moms
- Graph 11: influence of social media platforms, by parental status by gender, 2025
- Important factors
- Comfort is a priority for baby and children’s clothing
- Graph 12: important factors when buying clothing for children under 12, 2025
- Clothing considerations vary depending on the child’s age
- Graph 13: important factors when buying clothing for children under age 12, by children in household, 2025
- Desired clothing features
- Parents want children’s clothing to balance comfort, durability and sustainability
- Graph 14: desired clothing features, 2025
- Parents of preteens want more options for their children
- Graph 15: desired clothing features, by children in household, 2025
- Attitudes toward baby and children’s clothing
- Parents are becoming more strategic and selective when shopping the category
- Graph 16: attitudes toward baby and children’s clothing – shopping approach, any agree, by children in household, 2025
- Help parents measure the value of clothing
- Parents support the circular economy
- Graph 17: attitudes toward baby and children’s clothing – secondhand shopping, any agree, by generation of parent, 2025
- Manymoons taps into parents’ growing interest in the circular economy
- Clothing becomes an outlet for self-expression at an early age
- Graph 18: attitudes toward baby and children’s clothing – self-expression, any agree, 2025
- Monica + Andy makes it easy to reflect children’s individuality through clothing
-
Innovation and Marketing strategies
- Carter’s aims to win over parents through humor
- Hanna Andersson connects with modern families through inclusive representation
- UpChoose: the subscription service that offers affordability without compromising on quality
-
APPENDIX
- Market definition
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
- Forecast methodology
- Forecast fan chart methodology
The US baby and children’s clothing market is experiencing significant shifts due to declining birth rates, economic uncertainty and changing consumer preferences. While these challenges create pressure, the market remains relatively stable, as clothing for young children, particularly those under age 2, is a necessity. Additionally, the rapid growth cycles of young children create the need to frequently shop the category. When shopping for these items, parents continue to prioritize items that are comfortable, durable and stylish for their children.
However, worsening economic pressures can influence how families shop, resulting in fewer impulse purchases, reliance on sales and promotions, and a stronger focus on budget-friendly options. Brands that emphasize value, reward loyalty and deliver functional clothing are better positioned to thrive in this environment.
Looking ahead, consumer demand for convenience, unique products, personalized experiences and sustainability will shape the market. To stay competitive, brands should focus on curated, exclusive collections, eco-friendly solutions and seamless digital shopping experiences to meet parents’ evolving preferences and expectations.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Impact of key market factors, such as declining birth, fertility rates and increasing multicultural households
- Economic uncertainty and its impact on consumer spending
- Role of mothers as primary decision-makers in clothing purchases
- Importance of comfort, quality and sustainability in children’s clothing
- Retail trends, including the rise of circular shopping options
- Influence of social media and children’s preferences on purchasing decisions
The US baby and children’s clothing market faces challenges from declining birth rates, economic uncertainty and shifting consumer preferences, but remains stable due to the essentials for young children. By offering functional clothing, building meaningful connections and addressing the needs of parents and their children, brands can become trusted partners for parents shopping the category.
Marisa Ortega, Analyst – Retail & eCommerce
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Report covers the market related to shopping for children’s clothing up to and including preteen clothes and includes the following groups: infant (<1 year), toddler/preschool (1-5 years), young boys and girls/preteen (6-11 years).
The principal types of clothing covered in this report include sleepwear, underwear, daywear, outerwear. Excluded from this Report are children’s footwear, accessories/jewelry, and hats/gloves.
£ 3,695 excl. Tax
Secure direct checkout
Instant PDF download
Portal access included
Need help deciding?
Get in touch
Trusted by global industry leaders
At Jackman, we believe that powerful strategies are based on human insight. Mintel’s leading-edge reports and insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors are an important input as we develop and execute strategy.
Alana Gavin, VP Research and Insights, Jackman
When I’m investigating specific sectors I tend to use Mintel reports for their forecasting, which I’ve always found to be very accurate.
They also offer really broad and deep coverage in their reports. They are very, very detailed. For example, we were able to gain insight across a wide range of business areas from just one report, proving that Mintel is excellent value for money.
So overall, it’s the level of detail and the quality of forecasting that really stand out for me.
Rebecca Green, Market Insight Manager, Wincanton
We have such a great working relationship with Mintel on lots of different levels. As an insight partner, they have helped us to develop our business planning in specific categories as well as supporting our creative process but they’ve also been super helpful with facilitating our events in their inspirational offices near St Paul’s.
They’re an innovative company, with a client-focused team that always delivers.
Abby Carvosso, Group Managing Director, Bauer Media Group
Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.
When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.
The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.
Ben Zeidler, Director - Research and Analytics, Tenth Wave
Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.
It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.
Pauline Robson, Managing Partner, Mediacom
There is no question that Mintel is the go-to resource for the best quality market research, but I did not think it was an affordable option for Abacus Marketing to consider. As a small marketing agency, we only work with a few new clients each year.
However, we have a very high-end consultative approach to our work, so we really do need a partner like Mintel to provide the big agency experience we are always aiming to deliver. Our clients come from an incredibly diverse range of industry sectors, so we obviously need access to market research reports from a very wide spectrum of marketplaces – and that is precisely what we got.
Stephen Taylor-Brown, Managing Director, Abacus
We use Mintel to inform our thinking and reinforce strategy. If you’re presenting new ideas, it’s essential they are underpinned by robust data and evidence, and clearly rooted in fact.
Mintel gives us all that. It’s a great brand and one that is trusted by clients.
Marie Stafford, European Director, The Innovation Group, VML
We use Mintel Reports, mostly for financial services and ecommerce markets, plus a few retail and technology ones.
As a leading payments provider, we value additional insights into consumer behaviour, opinions and trends that are shaping the many different markets we operate in. Mintel is a very good and very quick way for us to obtain those insights.
We use Mintel to get a view on where a particular market is going, which can support us in product development and help us identify opportunities or indeed risks, it is a very useful barometer of a market’s potential.
Andrew Neeson, Market Intelligence Manager, VocaLink
We utilize Mintel Reports, Trends and Comperemedia to mine for insights across the numerous business verticals that Epsilon serves, such as CPG, automotive, telecom, healthcare/pharma, retail and financial services.
By integrating Mintel insight into new business opportunities, we have been able to gain the competitive edge necessary to advance partnerships with global brands and key business players.
For our organization, it’s about depth and breadth. Having one without the other doesn’t enable success in our business.
Virginia Harvey, Secondary Research Manager, Epsilon
Working in a customer-obsessed organization means that data and insights have to be at our fingertips. Mintel’s reports help us support anecdotes with real quantifiable insights. The summary sections (which I really like) helps save time by giving a birds eye view of the content before spending time combing through the pages.
Our business review discussions are strengthened by the relevancy of the reports to help us better understand our customers. In addition, the customer service received from the team (especially in crunch periods) makes the process of understanding customer behavior even better.
Ngozi Ngonadi-Nkwoji, Senior Marketing Manager, Amazon
We’ve found it so useful working more closely with Mintel. They helped support our recent flagship event for our top suppliers by providing a really unique viewpoint on the future of online retailing.
Nick Carroll from their Retail Team was also an excellent panelist, sharing useful and actionable consumer insights. We definitely look forward to working with Mintel again on future projects.
Zac Steele, E-Commerce Trading Development Manager, Waitrose & Partners
One of the biggest challenges we face is the need to get smart on a business or category real quick.
We are talking to clients who live and breathe their category every day and the expectation is that we will be able to get caught up very quickly, and bring the thinking that can help them.
We need to do that often in a matter of days, so it’s not a small ask. Mintel gives us a very articulate view of category conditions and does so at the speed we need it.
Jeff White, Business Development Director, Deutsch
