Parents use Facebook to be ‘better’, more informed parents: Survey

People who were born after 1980, or the so-called millennials, are now becoming parents all around the world. And according to a new Facebook survey, millennial parents are bringing a more modern and tech-savvy approach to parenting.

A new Facebook survey has revealed their changing parenting habits in nurturing their offspring: While 83% of parents globally describe their family as loving and 77% say their family is happy, coupled with that optimism are heightened daily-life stressors as well.

“Nearly 48% of parents say they are concerned about money while 39% say they are time-crunched,” says the survey conducted by Facebook IQ, a consumer research programme from the social networking giant.

Read: Becoming a parent means more time on Facebook according to a study

To gain a comprehensive understanding of modern parenting, Facebook IQ embarked on a multi-phased research study of 25-65 year old parents of infants, toddlers, adolescents and teenagers around the world.

The research team analysed Facebook and Instagram data across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US.

“Collectively, we gathered feedback from 8,300 parents and five parenting experts,a Facebook IQ said in a blog post.

By observing new parents’ behaviour on Facebook, the team found that parents globally spend 1.3X more time on Facebook mobile than non-parents.

Equipped with mobile devices, parents can get opinions, price comparisons and reviews before they make purchasing decisions.

“This is particularly true for millennial parents (ages 18-34) who are 30% more likely than Boomer parents (ages 50-65) to use their mobile devices to make more informed purchasing decisions,” the findings revealed.

Parents today have greater access to more information and opinions on everything from breastfeeding to education, allowing them to validate, reinforce or question their perspectives and actions.

“Nearly 83% of the parents we surveyed globally said they have access to more information than their parents did,” the survey showed. While 70% say they are more informed than their parents were, this is particularly true for 76% of Boomer parents who gained access to the internet and mobile devices later in life than their younger counterparts.

Read: Are we really dependent on Facebook?

As parents are getting more informed, so are their children who exercise a significant amount of influence over household purchasing decisions.

“Over 50% of parents globally say their child has more impact on purchasing decisions than they did in their family growing up. And 50% believe they listen to their child more than their parents listened to them,” the survey pointed out.

While parents are sharing more decisions with their children, they are also learning to prioritise their own needs so they can be better equipped to tend to their family.

“Nearly 38% of parents say their family is at its best when they are at their best,” the post revealed.

So, while parents use hashtags like #tired and #familytime, they also often use hashtags that speak to not only their own health and wellness but also their personal passions, it added.

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