The Insights Family share learnings on how rising cost-of-living pressures, evolving media habits, and shifting developmental priorities are reshaping how families play and choose products
Recent findings from The Insights Family casts light on the importance of understanding parents in order to better know what their children want and how discover brands and products – together.
In 2021, just 15% of parents with toddlers cited issues related to money and finance as their top concern. Today, that’s nearly doubled to 30%, reflecting multifaceted financial anxiety beyond income to the broader economic environment families navigate.
Yet, instead of pulling back, parents are spending more intentionally, seeking brands and products that deliver emotional and developmental value, not just entertainment.
Smartphones anchor family life, used by 82% of parents with under-twos. They are more than communication tools, they are entertainment hubs and parenting lifelines, with 56% using them for social media and 45% for video calls and playing games. TVs remain the preferred screen for films (50%) and TV shows (48%), reflecting lean-back family viewing at home.
Smartwatches are on the rise, up 29% since 2021, meeting demands for quick, on-the-go access to schedules and health notifications. Meanwhile, smart speaker use dropped 8%, likely replaced by screen-based devices with voice functionality.
Video and visual-first platforms lead consumption. YouTube (87%) tops the list, confirming its dominance across all age groups – not just kids, but also for parents, likely for entertainment, parenting content, and co-viewing. Instagram (81%) and TikTok (72%) follow closely, showing that visually driven, scrollable content is a key part of parents’ media mix.
Social media plays a direct role in commercial behaviours. Between 2023 and 2025, there’s been a rise in parents using social platforms to discover new products (up 52%), follow brands they like (up 51%), seek parenting advice (up 21%), and research products (up 18%).
Parents now actively seek reassurance, credibility, and connection from brands on social media. Trust increasingly depends on real voices and lived experiences. Peer and expert validation have grown in importance, with reviews on social channels up from 15% to 27% since 2021, and specialist child product reviews up 33% from 21% to 28%. Traditional media still holds the most trust among parents of one-to-two-year-olds when it comes to product and brand recommendations, with 38% finding TV ads more trustworthy than social platform ads, which stand at 26%.
Feedback from the event has been hugely positive, with the team from Living Realms in Wakefield, who are due to host this year’s largest CCQ player event in November, saying: “You put on an epic summit and really brought the Disney magic to all the local game stores that attended. As a team that listens to the players and retailers, this is a team that shows you as players and we as game stores are in very safe and capable hands!”
Ben added: “As we work towards our 2ndext Gen Insights Anniversary at the end of August, the event gave us the chance to hear their ideas, feedback and suggestions which we will feed back to the Global team.”
