With an estimated 49.7 million children aged 11 or younger in the US and 10.1 million households headed by someone younger than 40 that include children, young families represent a substantial target market for companies. Despite facing many challenges (eg the rising cost of childcare), young families are optimistic. Young parents are extremely price sensitive and focused on saving money. They are looking for ways to save without feeling like they are depriving their families. Though Millennial parents are surprisingly traditional, Millennials who have yet to settle down are likely less attached to traditional values than their peers who have already started their families. As these Millennials (and future generations) have children, they may continue to resist tradition and be on the lookout for progressive products and brands.

Readers of this report may also be interested in Family Leisure Trends – US, January 2015 and Families Dining Out – US, September 2014.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

Young families are defined as parents aged 18-39 with children younger than 12 living in the household.

Older families are defined as parents aged 40+ with children aged 12+ living in the household.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through Lightspeed GMI to explore the lifestyles of young families. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in January 2015 among a sample of 2,000 parents aged 18+ with access to the internet, including 1,189 parents in young families.

Mintel selected survey respondents by age of children under 18 living in the household as well as household income and region so that they are proportionally representative of the US adult population using the internet who are parents of children aged under 18. Please note that our surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in our survey results.

Mintel has also analyzed data from Experian Marketing Services using the NHCS (Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study).

The Experian Marketing Services, Simmons NHCS was carried out during August 2013 through September 2014, and the results are based on the sample of 6,918 adults aged 18+ who are a parent/guardian of a child younger than 18, with results weighted to represent the US adult population.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

In addition to quantitative consumer research, Mintel also conducted an online discussion group among a demographically mixed group of parents aged 18+. This discussion group was asynchronous (ie not run in real time), functioning like a blog or bulletin board, with questions remaining posted for a predetermined period of time. This method allows participants to respond reflectively at their leisure or to log off to think about any issues raised and return later to respond. Participants were recruited from Lightspeed GMI’s online consumer panel with responses collected in January 2015. Relevant quotes are included as stated; however, Mintel has corrected typos and grammatical errors prior to publishing.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers