Around 1.5 million Australians have babies, and one in five of these parents bought baby food in the past four weeks, according to retail data from Roy Morgan Research.
Over the past two years, Roy Morgan Research spoke to almost 2,000 parents across Australia with children from newborns to two year olds in the home. Most parents of babies are 25-34 years old, another third are 35 or older, while just seven per cent are 24 and below.
This youngest group of parents are more likely to buy baby food: 26 per cent of surveyed parents aged 24 and under buy baby food in an average four-week period, compared with 22 per cent of 25-34 year olds and just 19 per cent of those 35 and over.
Of course, younger parents are less likely than older ones to already have other children. Consequently, first-born babies are the most likely to be dining from a tin, jar or pouch, with 25 per cent of their surveyed parents buying baby food in an average four weeks.
Roy Morgan Research Industry Communications Director Norman Morris says there are obvious correlations between how old parents are and whether they’re on baby number one, two, three or more.
“However, our ongoing national single source survey allows us to dig deeper into the total pool of parents, avoiding over-generalisations that can end up misidentifying or misunderstanding the target markets,” he said.
“People having their first child at 40 will often make very different parenting and purchasing choices from those having their baby at 20 – or those having their third at 40.
“With many Australians deferring baby-making until later in life, the very idea of an ‘average parent’ is changing and fragmenting. Manufacturers and retailers of baby products, from food and milk formula to clothes and furniture, as well as childcare providers, large employers and government agencies, need to make sure they fully understand and keep track of parenting trends.”