Gen Z parents moving away from ‘gentle parenting’
With back-to-school season in full swing, Kiddie Academy® Educational Child Care is unveiling new research findings that indicate a desire among young parents to prepare their children for the real world and a shift away from “gentle parenting,” or emphasizing empathy and understanding rather than punishment. Seven in 10 parents are choosing parenting styles based on what their child needs, rather than trying to make one style work regardless of their child’s personality.
“According to this survey, almost half of parents (47%) are trusting their own intuition when it comes to parenting advice and guidance,” said Joy Turner, vice president of education at Kiddie Academy. “Parents are learning along with their children, seeking to find the best way to support each other and adjusting as the journey unfolds.”
When it comes to how they decide which approach to use, Gen Z parents prioritize preparing their children for the real world (54%), while millennial parents are focusing on supporting their children mentally and emotionally (62%). There’s a paradigm shift in parenting from one generation to the next.
In fact, modern parents are using a variety of new styles of parenting including healing generational trauma, or cycle-breaking (37%), forming strong and emotional bonds, or attachment (33%) and even prioritizing real-world consequences, or cause and effect (31%). Child-led parenting, which sees children as equals to adults and focuses mostly on emotional development, is preferred by 20% of parents surveyed.
“Parenting approaches have changed over time. What parents should keep in mind is understanding their child and meeting those needs,” Turner added.
Survey methodology: Kiddie Academy surveyed 2,000 parents of children ages 0-6; the survey was administered and conducted online by an independent research firm on behalf of Kiddie Academy between Aug. 21 and Aug. 27, 2025.
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