Raising Gen Alpha

Helenor Gilmour is head of strategy and insight at Beano Brain. She can be reached at helenor.gilmour@beano.com.

Previously referred to as the “snowflake generation,” Millennials are now parents (aged between 27-40) and ripping up the rule book to raise their Generation Alpha kids in their own unique way.

Millennials have matured into parenthood in truly unprecedented times, characterized by a backdrop of turbulence and worry and punctuated with a seemingly unending cycle of once-in-a-generation events – from a global pandemic to war in Ukraine. 

They are also the digital generation, who have grown up with the internet and social media, making them uniquely placed to understand the benefits the online world can bring to their children’s lives, along with potentially negative effects on their mental health.

So what does this all mean for Millennial parents and their Gen Alpha kids?

To find out, we at Beano Brain, a kids and families insight consultancy, conducted a year-long study with more than 200 hours of face-to-face interviews and a survey of 2,000 U.S. and U.K. parents. We discovered that there has been a seismic generational shift in parenting ethos from “do as I do” to “fix what we did.”

Our findings, detailed in our white paper, Raising Gen Alpha: How Millennial Parenting is Impacting the Next Generation, show that Millennial parents have a desire to be omnipresent in their kids' lives, there for the big life events as well as the small stuff. This means Millennial moms are prioritizing full-time parenthood over their careers – and we use “mom” here, as Millennial dads, despite being more emotionally present than previous generations, are still physically absent.

Raised as opinion-formers and stakeholders, Gen Alpha has a huge influence on family purchases, which has seismic implications for brands who are looking to gain trust, share of voice and customer loyalty within the lives of families and young people.

And Millennial parents are professionally parenting like no other generation before them. From planning the route to parenthood amidst career and personal goals, to actively selecting the parenting style they want to adopt, Millennials take their role as parents as seriously as, and sometimes instead of, their next big career move.

In fact, we found that 69% of Millennials waited until they were married or living with their partner before having children and 34% of Millennial parents actively planned and researched when would be best to have children, compared to only a quarter of Gen X parents.

Forty-seven percent of Millennial parents have read up on and selected a parenting style vs. 37% of Gen X – this is especially important for Millennial dads (54%).

Keep up with peers

Millennials are more likely to seek out advice online than Gen X parents but this brings new levels of pressure, with 42% of Millennial parents feeling the need to keep up with their peers while only 26% of Gen X parents state the same.

Millennial parents are not immune to the effects of influencers, with 45% stating that celebrity influencers make them “feel bad.”

Having grown up in a social media goldfish bowl, these digital natives are more digitally nervous for their own children with 75% of Millennial parents trying to keep their children off social media for as long as possible. And 35% of Millennial parents believe that a child’s digital footprint should be erased once they turn 18 – rising to 45% of Millennial dads.

Present in all areas

As Millennial parents reflect on missed moments and conversations that took place in their own childhood homes, they are eager to ensure they are present in all areas of their child’s life at any given moment – 77% of parents are prioritizing time with the children over careers.

Millennial moms, rather than dads (59% vs 49%), are more likely to be putting their career on hold or giving less attention to work to focus on raising children. Sixty-two percent of Millennial dads say they share parenting duties equally with their partner but only 43% of Millennial moms say the same.

The Millennial dad is more emotionally present than ever but is yet to improve on physical presence. In fact, Millennial dads are no more likely than Gen X dads to actually prioritize time with their children over their careers.

No longer the only way

Millennial parents are increasingly pushing back against formalized education and there’s a growing belief that traditional routes into careers and, indeed, life are no longer the only way to raise modern adults.

Fifty-seven percent of Millennial parents believe that schools are not preparing children to be citizens of the future compared to 47% Gen X. Some 8% of Millennial parents are home-schooling and 36% would consider it. Only 12% of Millennial parents say they want their child to attend university (38% of the 18-year-old U.K. population is currently at university).

Sixty-five percent of Millennial parents feel that their children don’t have the freedom to roam as they did as a child and 55% fear the negative influences of social media.

Eighty-one percent of Millennials think it’s more important to be happy than to be “successful.”

Forty-five percent of Millennial moms believe that being mentally healthy is important versus just 31% of dads.

Give their full support

Parents are acknowledging that their generations, and previous ones, have contributed to the global problems and so they give their full support to their Gen Alpha children who are standing up and speaking out for what they believe in. Fifty-three percent of Millennial parents believe that this generation will help solve the problems caused by previous generations. This theme is rooted firmly in parents’ fears for the planet and the world their children are inheriting.

Implications for brands

This desire to be present and their democratic approach to parenting means that Millennials are enjoying a super-close relationship with their Gen Alpha offspring. Their individuality is celebrated by their parents, meaning that Millennial parents are more likely to encourage their children to stand up for their beliefs.

Frustrated by authority, they are pushing against the traditional symbols of success and authority and prioritizing happiness and fulfilment for themselves and their children. And they will abandon systems, structures and authorities they don’t agree with or respect and simply find their own way.

The challenge for brands and marketers is how to respond to this focus on individuality. How do you cater for mass individualism and how do you respond to a generation that may see you as part of the problem?

The shift in what parents want most for their kids is undeniable and continuing to change.

Raising Gen Alpha has revealed a new era of parenting rituals that will determine which brands Millennial parents will engage with and turn to for help. This affects everything from workplace parental policies to parents seeking out products with mental health benefits.

For brands there is a huge opportunity space linked to Millennial parents’ emphasis on their children’s happiness and mental health and the strong desire for their kids to spend more time outdoors playing and exploring independently.

This is potentially a sizeable innovation area for creative and experiential designers and for products that lend themselves to cross-family enjoyment.

Parents want brands to help them help their children be citizens of the future but shouldn’t forget to be playful and fun with a renewed focus on happiness as an end goal.

Methodology 

  • Face-to-face in-depth interviews with 30 parents and expectant parents of Gen Alpha (kids aged 0-12) from across the U.K. and U.S.
  • Longitudinal research with over 200 hours of face-to-face interviews throughout 2022 with Trendspotter panels (kids aged 7-16) in the U.K. and U.S.
  • Quantitative research surveying 2,000 parents of Gen Alpha in the U.K. and U.S.