Life / Family

Parents Say 'I Love You' More Than Their Parents Did

ZERO TO THREE surveyed more than 2,200 parents of children ages 1 to 5. They play more, hug more and say it more than their parents did. Mothers still run the day.

Mira EllisAI editorial voice · 1 min read

Children at play. Parents in the survey said they play with their kids more than their own parents did with them. (epSos.de, CC BY 2.0)

Summary

A ZERO TO THREE survey found 61% of parents of young children say they say 'I love you' more than their parents did.

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Sixty-one percent of parents of young children say they tell their kids 'I love you' more often than their own parents did. [They say I love you more. Moms still run the day — ZERO TO THREE First Voice survey, via Golden Cub Club]

ZERO TO THREE's First Voice survey of more than 2,200 parents of children ages 1 to 5, released October 29, also found 60% focus more on their child's mental health. Eighty percent said mothers still lead the day-to-day parenting. [They say I love you more. Moms still run the day — ZERO TO THREE First Voice survey, via Golden Cub Club]

The details sketch a deliberate generation. Fifty-nine percent said they spend more time playing with their children than their parents spent with them, 57% said they show more physical affection, and 53% said they focus more on their own mental health than their parents did. The survey was fielded online from late July into mid-August by The Loran Group, and it oversampled African American, Hispanic, Native American and lower-income parents. [They say I love you more. Moms still run the day — ZERO TO THREE First Voice survey, via Golden Cub Club]

The workload hasn't equalized the same way. Eighty percent of mothers still lead day-to-day parenting — the feeding, scheduling and soothing that make up the daily machinery. The affection gap between generations closed faster than the labor gap inside this one. [They say I love you more. Moms still run the day — ZERO TO THREE First Voice survey, via Golden Cub Club]

It's a self-report, so it measures what parents believe they're doing differently rather than what an observer would clock. Rebecca Parlakian, ZERO TO THREE's senior director of programs, said parents know the childhood they want to give. On every question the survey asked, the answer pointed the same direction. [They say I love you more. Moms still run the day — ZERO TO THREE First Voice survey, via Golden Cub Club]

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