Who decides
The decision maker
Who in the household chooses, who signs off and where the two are not the same person.
Parents Insights
Parent market research, in real time.
Independent, first-party research with parents of children aged 1 to 16, in 22 markets, collected every week. The household view of how families research, shop and decide.
Parents of 1–16s
22 markets
Weekly fieldwork
Since 2021
What it is
The other half of every family decision.
A child asks. A parent decides, or does not. Parents Insights surveys the person holding the budget, on the same weekly cadence as Kids Insights, so you can read both sides of the same purchase rather than guessing at one of them.
Surveyed directly, not inferred
We ask parents themselves. Nothing here is modelled from general adult panels or reconstructed from retail data after the fact.
Weekly, not annual
206 responses a week per market, 10,700 a year. A change in what parents trust or where they shop shows up as a movement, not as a gap between two studies.
Comparable across markets
One method in all 22 markets, so a finding about UK parents can be read against Germany, the US or Japan without caveats about incompatible samples.
Paired with the child's view
Run alongside Kids Insights, it turns pester power from an anecdote into a measurable influence you can size by category.
Household influence
Where the child's voice changes the outcome.
Influence is not evenly spread. It runs high on toys and cereal, lower on cars and holidays, and it shifts as the child gets older. We measure it category by category, from the parent's side, so you know where a child-facing message will actually move a purchase.
What they weigh
Purchase drivers
Price, quality, educational value, reusability and the trade-offs parents make between them.
Where they buy
Channel and retailer
Online, high street, supermarket or specialist, and how that shifts by category and season.
Who they trust
Media and influence
Which channels, platforms and recommendations parents act on, and which they discount.
What we measure
The full picture of family life.
Parents are asked across the same insight modules as kids, so every finding can be read from both sides of the household.
Purchase Power
Budgets, spending and who influences the decision.
Food & Shopper
The weekly shop, brands, snacking and eating out.
Play Time
Toys, activities and how families spend time together.
Digital Behaviours
Screen rules, devices and how parents manage them.
Education & Development
Learning, schooling and what parents want for their child.
Market Sizing
Category opportunity and the competitive set.
Future Trends
Emerging attitudes and what parents expect next.
Coverage
Twenty-two markets, one comparable method.
Parents Insights runs in every market we cover, on identical fieldwork, so a global picture and a local one come from the same source.
206
Parents surveyed weekly, per market
10,700
Per market, every year
22markets
Global coverage
since2021
Always on, ever since
Latest thinking
What we are seeing in parents.
Published research drawn from the same dataset, free to read.
Article
How today’s digital-first parents are redefining brand expectations
Money worries have doubled, yet parents are spending more intentionally. What they now expect from brands.
Family Economy Article
How parents really make the buying decision
The push and pull between pester power and the household budget.
Food & Shopper Article
Why kids hold the key to household decision making
Even preschoolers now shape what households buy, from toys to cars and holidays.
Purchase PowerCommon questions
Parents Insights, answered.
Who does Parents Insights survey?
Parents of children aged 1 to 16, surveyed directly. The age range refers to the child, so the panel spans parents from the earliest years through to their child leaving school.
How is it different from surveying kids?
It captures the household view: budget, brand trust, where they shop and how the purchase is actually decided. Read alongside Kids Insights, it shows both sides of the same decision.
Which generations of parents does it cover?
Predominantly Millennial and Gen Z parents, alongside Gen X. Because we report by age rather than by label, the generational split moves with the panel.
How often is the data updated?
Every week. Parents Insights is a continuous study, not a periodic wave, so new responses land in the portal without waiting for a report.
How many parents are surveyed?
206 a week in each market, 10,700 a year per market, as part of more than one million interviews a year across kids, teens, young adults and parents.
Is the data ethically collected?
Yes. Fieldwork runs to GDPR and ESOMAR and MRS standards, and where children are surveyed it is with parental consent and age-appropriate design. See the full methodology.
Start a conversation
What do you need to know about parents?
Tell us the decision you are facing and we will show you where Parents Insights fits.