I'm A Latch Key Kid!

Up until recently the family that I live in may have been chastised for being a "broken home", but that is not how it is being seen now that it has become

 more of a norm than an anomaly. Now I'm just a "latch key kid" in a "nuclear family". It is obvious that the stage of life a family is in will affect the products that family buys, and who participates in the decision and to what extent. This is based, loosely on the Family Life Cycle. This is quite a basic model, and things are getting increasing complicated. No longer are the majority following the traditional family life cycle, as shown below:

But there are many differences between the family life of 20, 30, 40 years ago and the families of today. As with every generation parents are trying to raise thier children in the way that they wanted to be raised. One of these differences is what some people are calling "helicopter parents". Essentially these parents are babyboomers trying to do the best for their kids in a way that some experts feel is detrimental to the child. They want to wrap them up in cotton wool and sweep all of the obtacles out of the way for their child. Some people feel that the mobile phone is to blame, calling it "the worlds longest umbilical cord".

Here are some demographic statistics given by my lecturer, Ruth:

◊ Average household size is 2.4 people in 2001

◊ Dramatic increase in one person households 12% in 1961, 26% in 1990, 6.8 million in 2001 – 28%

◊ More than 50% of women over the age of 65 years live on their own

◊ Life expectancy for women is 78.8 years for men is 73.2 years

◊ Divorces have increased to 1 in 3

◊ 7% of households in 2001 – single parents

All these shifts in the way families are constructed and perceived are having a massive impact on the way inwhich families make decisions. One of the biggest changes in the way inwhich familes now make decisions and how they used to make decisions is the involvement of children. And one of the most common forms of this involvement has coined the phrase "pester power". It is hardly possible to walk down a high street or shop in a supermarket without hearing the voice of an angry parent being nagged by their child. According to Dave Lawrence, in an article for Marketing Weekly, states that "parents want their children to be a part of everyday decision-making, for instance, choosing holiday destinations based on their children's wishes". 

This may be a because the parents wanted to be part of such decision is thier childhood, but were not allowed, and now that they have thier own family, probably with a higher income from having both parents at work, are able to give more to their children. Another factor that affects higher involvement of children is that, in many cases relating to technology, the children know more about the product being bought than the parents. And the phenomenon of High School Musical, seemingly aimed at 14-16, being a huge hit with the under 10s audience has created quite a stir. My 7 year old cousin has a High School Musical sleeping bag, karoeke machine, bed spread, posters, pencils, backback and I'm sure the list extends to many more products which she didn't have time to show me. My 5 year old step sister has the High School Musical game on her Nintendo DS.

This diagram, by Taylor, Nelson, Sofres, shows the % of the decision made by various members of the family.

But this information is a few years old now. This is a fast growing trend, especially among the tweens. The diagram below is from a 2003 survey of 8-12 year olds and how much influence they feel they have in family decision making. 

In the 1950s video at the top of the page the little boy has no say in whether he gets to watch the movie, nor does he argue the right to watch the movie. In Charlie in the Chocolate Factory Veruca Salt was made to be quite the except, as rich and spoilt, but it seems that children much younger are doing the same "I Want It Now" routine, and getting it Now.