Return-to-office policies, declining inflation and evolving parenting expectations have dads and moms in a state of constant adaptation. This – on top of their children’s changing needs – means that past parenting conventions are, at best, respected with the acknowledgment that adjustments are necessary. These changes offer brands ample opportunities to offer solutions and emotionally connect with dads.
One of the biggest opportunities lies in the tech-savvy nature of modern dads. They are active on more social media platforms than moms and rely heavily on digital solutions for parenting information and shopping. This creates an opening for brands to develop targeted, tech-forward solutions that help dads manage their evolving parental responsibilities while maintaining work-life balance.
While gender equity in parenting has penetrated dads’ attitudes, some daylight exists between awareness and behavior. Some differences may be inevitable, but brands that present a more equitable reality will be viewed as thought leaders that pave the way for greater family cohesion and positive parenting results.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Changing work-life dynamics and parenting expectations
- Impact of easing inflation and other macroeconomic trends on family spending
- The evolution of modern parenting conventions and dads’ acknowledgment of them
- The digital transformation in parenting tools and resources
- Evolving gender roles in childcare responsibilities
- Impact of remote work on parenting styles
- Social media influence on parenting decisions
- Marketing strategies for different dad demographics, innovations and campaign examples
Parenting expectations of and by dads are evolving in an environment of changing work-life balance, easing inflation and modern parenting conventions.
Hiro Takemasa, Senior Consumer Lifestyles Analyst
Market Definitions
For this Report, “parent” refers to all adults with children below the age of 18 in the household, “dad” refers to male adults with children below the age of 18 in the household, and “mom” refers to female adults with children below the age of 18 in the household.
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Executive Summary
- What you need to know
- Market predictions
- What consumers want & why
- Opportunities
- Tech and discovery are top-of-mind for dads
- Help dads increase the equity and quality of time with their children
- Lessons from the 2024 election: a business case for addressing marketing fatigue in value-driven parents
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Market Dynamics
- Market context
- The US economy, as a whole, has made significant improvements over the past year
- Economic expansion continues, GDP increases by 2.8% in Q3 2024
- Graph 1: quarterly real GDP growth, 2020-24
- Outlook on personal finances remains bullish
- Graph 2: opinions on financial future, 2023-24
- Graph 3: income growth in the past 12 months, by financial outlook, 2024
- Dads by the numbers
- Having children later in life creates new consumer needs and opportunities
- Graph 4: average age of mother at first birth, 1980-2020
- Graph 5: co-resident dads of children under the age of 18, by age of dad, 2019-23
- Meet the unique challenges of single minority parents
- Graph 6: households types with children under age 18 (thousands), by race and Hispanic origin, 2023
- Graph 7: households with children under age 18 (thousands), by race and Hispanic origin, 2023
- Even as total families decline, average family size stays nearly the same
- Graph 8: average number of own children under 18 per family, by type of family, 2013-23
- Graph 9: families with children under 18 (million), 2013-23
- Market drivers
- The portion of dual-income families exceeds pre-pandemic levels
- Graph 10: opposite sex households with children under the age of 18, by employment status, 2019-23
- Dads' labor force participation remained relatively stable over the pandemic
- Graph 11: labor force participation rate, by moms and dads of children under the age of 18 in the household, 2019-23
- Unemployment among Black and Hispanic males trends higher and shows greater volatility
- Graph 12: male unemployment rate, by race and Hispanic origin, 2020-24
- Changing work-from-home policies create new and resurface old issues for dads
- Graph 13: percentage of paid days working from home, 2020-24
- Potential for reduced discretionary spending among those resuming federal student loan payments
- Graph 14: impacts of student loan repayments, by parental status and gender, 2023
- Potential changes to the Child Tax Credit and how it could affect families
- Parents' roles are evolving; the gap between moms and dads for time spent on child care narrows
- Graph 15: average time spent caring for children in household, by dads and moms, 2013-23
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Consumer Insights
- Consumer fast facts
- Consumer fast facts, continued
- Dads' parenting styles
- Dads recognize and strive to meet the many demands of modern parenting
- Graph 16: parenting styles, by dads and moms, 2024
- Dads' top concerns generally align with moms' – though moms are more concerned with their children's happiness
- Graph 17: top concerns about their kids (any rank 1-3)*, by dads and moms, 2024
- Provide dads with measurable metrics for successful parenting
- Graph 18: select parenting styles and top concerns (any rank 1-3)*, by dads and moms, 2024
- What the happiness divide between moms and dads means for marketers
- Expectations of emotional intelligence are growing, and are higher for certain dad cohorts
- Tailor messaging to match dads' working situations and parenting styles
- Graph 19: dads' attitudes about parenting, by work from home status, 2024
- Greater financial health correlates with authoritarian and structured parenting
- Graph 20: dads' parenting styles, by financial health, 2024
- Modern parenting balances aspects of structured and permissive parenting styles
- Dads' behavioral changes with child rearing
- Change is a constant in parenting, which demands behaviors to adapt
- Graph 21: top behavioral changes due to parenthood, by dads and moms, 2024
- Single dads prioritize time efficiency and easing mental load
- Graph 22: dads' top behavioral changes due to parenthood, by marital status, 2024
- Leverage affluent dads' tech enthusiasm and greater bandwidth for attention
- Graph 23: dads' top behavioral changes due to parenthood, by financial health, 2024
- Help new dads adapt to the realities of transitioning lifestyles
- Graph 24: dads' top behavioral changes due to parenthood, by first-time dads vs all dads, 2024
- Capitalize on Hispanic dads' high engagement with child brands
- Graph 25: dads' top behavioral changes due to parenthood, by race and Hispanic origin, 2024
- Parents' connection with their children
- Capitalize on dads’ relatively higher prioritization of sharing gaming and fandoms with their kids
- Dads and moms prioritize activities that build skills
- Graph 26: top priorities for activities with children, by dads and moms, 2024
- Differences in priorities between moms and dads reflect differences in childcare roles
- While some gender differences persist, parent-child leisure becoming less gendered
- Graph 27: moms' top priorities for activities with children, by gender of child, 2024
- Graph 28: dads' prioritized leisure activities with their children, by gender of child, 2024
- Tap into dads' love for physical activities with their children
- Graph 29: dads' top priorities for activities with children, by age of child, 2024
- Leverage work-from-home dads' love of video gaming and fandoms to help them connect with their children
- Graph 30: dads' top priorities for activities with children, by work from home status, 2024
- Marketing children's products to dads
- Acknowledge how traditional gender roles come into play for moms' and dads' shopping priorities
- Graph 31: non-essential product categories purchased for children in the last 12 months, by dads and moms, 2024
- The business case for avoiding gender stereotypes in marketing
- Dads focus on non-price value, tech and nostalgia, while moms focus more on children's needs and wants
- Graph 32: purchase priorities when buying for children (very important), dads and moms, 2024
- Understanding the dad-driven vs child-centric dynamic
- Commuting dads value "kid-approved" flavors
- Graph 33: dads' – taste for food purchases (very important), by work from home status, 2024
- Breakfast cereals' functionality maintains their popularity despite challenges to their nutritional profile
- IP tie-ins and nostalgia speak to all dads, but especially the affluent and dads of sons
- IP tie-in and nostalgia important for dads, especially financially healthy ones
- Graph 34: TV show/movie tie-in, experienced at same age (very important), by dads and moms, dads' financial health and dads' gender of children, 2024
- Adapt marketing strategy through child development stages
- Graph 35: important purchase factors, by age of child, 2024
- Dads' attitudes toward their kids and social media
- Greater content moderation is the top change dads want to see in the social media their children use
- Graph 36: desired changes to social media, by dads and moms, 2024
- Gen Z and Millennial dads are less concerned about content moderation…for now
- Graph 37: dads' desired changes to social media, by generation, 2024
- Dads are prime targets for social media time-management solutions – for themselves as well as their children
- Graph 38: parenting styles and concerns – social media use and control, by dads and moms, 2024
- Dads' attitudes toward social media differ based on whether they have sons or daughters
- Graph 39: parenting styles of dads, by gender of children, 2024
- Graph 40: dads desired changes to social media, by gender of children, 2024
- Gender differences stem from perceptions of societal risks
- Be aware of cultural differences in dads' priorities for social media protections for children
- Graph 41: dads' desired changes to social media, by race and Hispanic origin, 2024
- Speaking to dads
- Dads' and moms' product discovery behaviors are similar – except while in stores
- Graph 42: typical places of product discovery, by dads and moms, 2024
- Dads’ workplace flexibility has implications on advertising platform strategy
- Return-to-office policies have the potential to shift advertising prioritization
- Graph 43: dads' product discovery, by work from home status, 2024
- Dads have a tendency to use internet sources for parenting advice
- Graph 44: top sources of parenting advice, by dads and moms, 2024
- Niche information sources should focus on the needs of financially healthy dads
- Graph 45: dads' top sources of parenting advice, by financial health, 2024
- Take advantage of dads' accelerated information seeking as their children move from babies to toddlers
- Graph 46: dads' sources of parenting information, by age of children, 2024
- Dads spread their time on social media more widely than moms
- Graph 47: social media platforms used daily, by dads and moms, 2024
- Optimize social media targeting when reaching out to financially healthy dads
- Graph 48: dad's daily use of social media platforms, by financial health, 2024
- Social media increasingly becomes the hub for dads' product discovery
- Graph 49: dads' product discovery, by generation, 2024
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Innovation and Marketing strategies
- Launch activity and innovation
- Instacart partnering with Ohai to assist and simplify shopping and planning for busy parents
- Square Enix perfectly times a re-release of a classic game
- Despite good intentions, Alphabet's Gemini ad fails to resonate with parents
- Smartphone ubiquity allows for modern parenting communication and collaboration solutions
- Marketing and advertising
- Tide turns changing gender household roles into positive role-model messaging
- Dove's commitment to authenticity and positive role modeling creates emotional moments
- Taylor Swift x football creates a positive narrative for dads and daughters
- Volkswagen appeals to dads by leveraging their brand reputation for safety
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Appendix
- Market definition
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
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