There’s a lot being said about the generation of consumers born between 1982 and 2000. We know this turn-of-the-millennium generation as the Millennials, and they are the first digitally native generation, growing up alongside the internet. We’ve seen memes and reels about everything Millennial – the TV shows they like, their commitment to work-life balance, and their affinity for social media.
What we don’t hear enough of, though, is about the sheer number of them. India alone has more than 440 million Millennials, which is more than the entire population of the US and Canada combined. With the youngest of them in their late twenties currently, many are now entering a new phase of their lives: parenthood. We took a closer look at how digitally savvy Millennial parents are now applying their habits, beliefs and behaviours to how they raise their children, making them an interesting target consumer for digital-first brands across various categories.
Going nuclear
With many families choosing to have only one child, the typical Millennial family is nuclear. According to Kantar data, half of all Indian households were nuclear in 2022, up from 37% in 2008. That’s a staggering 160 million households. The data also shows that the average household in 2023 had 1.99 kids, as opposed to 2.68 kids in 2005.
- Millennial parents live in smaller homes, making space a constraint, and causing kids’ lives to percolate into all living spaces of their home. Some families have a separate kids’ bedroom, opening up doors (no pun intended!) for furniture brands and toys.
- Millennials are often DIWKs (Dual Income With Kids) which means greater reliance on external help to babysit children – nannies, summer camps, classes, etc. Another effect is less time with their children, but a strong focus on quality time. Opportunities to create aggregate baby care services, devices and toys that provide edutainment or facilitate high engagement with children could be interesting build-outs.
The rise of Sharenthood
Growing up alongside social media, Millennial parents are quick to share their parenthood moments on Facebook and Instagram. From pics to anecdotes, they “show off” their parenting journey, and “sharenting” is now a global phenomenon.
In India, communities like The Mommy Network and First Moms Club help parents share their experiences in raising their children, seek advice and support from each other, as well as share suggestions and tips on shopping for their kids. Hopscotch specifically has a feature on their app and website called “Moments” to upload and share images of kids wearing the brand’s apparel in exchange for “likes”.
According to a report by University of Michigan, 8 out of 10 parents across the globe seek advice on parental purchasing online, and there’s no reason to believe that the number is any different now. From our portfolio, we saw Mamaearth – which began as a mom-and-baby brand – build and encourage a community of new-age moms to great effect. Slurrp Farm has created a community called “Yes Moms” to unite mothers on their parenting journey, particularly in nutrition.
The power of knowledge
Perhaps the strongest point of difference between Millennial parents and older generations is how much they already know, and their willingness to take painstaking efforts to learn more about the effects of their consumption. These parents are more knowledgeable, better read, and completely aware of the consequences of the products they are buying for their children. Not only do they spend much more time in evaluating what to buy, but they also dive deep into how it affects the health, appearance, and overall development of their kids.
Multi-faceted kids
Children benefit immensely from this high-involvement, high-research method of parenting, which has also enabled an ecosystem that supports it. As a result, they lead active lives, with many hobbies and activities. The ecosystem has now evolved to provide curated spaces and products for creative development – and we’ve seen several opportunities open up in toys and furniture. From our portfolio, Magic Crate was one of the early entrants in this space, providing monthly subscription boxes with educational toys.
We also see Millennial parents spending more on their children’s creative development, and while some of this is internally driven, social proofing and “parental guilt” also act as triggers. A three-metro study revealed that as the number of households with both parents working has risen, parents have ended up with less time but more money to spend on their kids. The key triggers? Guilt, FOMO, and competitiveness.
Two flavours of Millennial parents
In his book, What Do Millennials Want, Vivan Marwaha described the defining characteristic of this generation in two words: aspiration and anxiety.
These two key emotions have given rise to two kinds of parents – “Insta Parents,” driven by aspiration, and seen most often on Instagram; and “Google Parents,” found most often researching everything “parent/child-related” on Google.
Between Instagram Parents, and Google Parents, we see that the first group is more outward-driven and more open to influence, making for a larger and more attractive target audience for a variety of new-age products.
What sort of products and brands are you seeing cater to Millennial parents, and how are they making themselves relevant – do let us know in the comments.
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