Families with kids are a critical demographic: There are an estimated 73.8 million children in the US, and 27% of all households have at least one child under the age of 18. Families with children have higher incomes than the average and control a potential $3.8 trillion in buying power. Further, these consumers have a variety of different needs and are in their peak years of earning and spending. In this Report, Mintel examines the significant role kids play in household purchasing decisions and recommends strategies and opportunities for appealing to this important group.

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

Parents: Adults aged 18+ who are parents/guardians to kids under the age of 18 living in the household.

Kids: Children younger than 18 living in the household of the parent/guardian taking the survey.

The primary focus of this Report is parents with kids aged 6-11, however data is also broken into three primary groups for the purpose of comparison: parents with kids 5 and under, 6-11, 12-17. When comparing parents with kids in different age groups, the data reported is for parents who have kids that fall into only one distinct group, without overlap.