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You are here: Research Commercialisation of childhood

Commercialisation of childhood

Since our inception, the Family and Parenting Institute have been concerned about the growing commercial pressure on parents and children. Commercial pressures are ever-present in our lives and have only become more ubiquitous with the explosion of the internet. Staggeringly, the average child in the UK sees between 20,000 and 40,000 TV ads a year. While TV advertising is heavily regulated, particularly with regard to foods high in sugar, salt and fat, far less regulation is applied to the internet and regulation that does exist is less stringently enforced than on broadcast media.

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood - Produced by the Media Education Foundation.

We have heard from many parents about the positive impact of pro-social messages, for example those encouraging recycling or driving at slower speeds. However, not all advertising messages are so healthy and 84% of parents involved in a MORI poll commissioned by FPI told us that they felt companies targeted their children too much.

Of course neither parents nor children can 'escape' the commercial world, which offers benefits and opportunities as well as downsides. But parents have frequently told us about their despair as the weekly trip to the supermarket descends into tears and tantrums, and leaves them feeling like villains. Pester power is only too real for them and they wish the dice was a little less loaded.

Simultaneously, children's buying power is at an all time high. Under-18's in the UK spend £12 billion of their own money every year, in addition to which they are increasingly recruited by corporate companies to 'pester' their peers through online wish-lists and more insidiously recruitment as 'brand ambassadors' testing and promoting items amongst their friends. Recently, this method was reportedly used for an MP3 player. The increasing sexualisation of childhood is also a growing concern of parents, and the Family and Parenting Institute was pleased to see WH Smith withdraw their range of Playboy school stationary in early 2009.

The effects of commercialisation on young people have been paid more attention in recent years. The National Consumer Council, in their publication 'Watching, wanting and wellbeing: exploring the links' showed that those children who spend a lot of time watching TV, playing on the computer and engaging with adverts were more materialistic than children who engage in other activities. This was particularly striking in areas of relative deprivation compared to children growing up in more affluent areas. It was also suggested that materialistic children tend to do less well at school and are less likely to help around the house. The Government have picked up these concerns as part of the Children's Plan and has commissioned an analysis of evidence on the effects of commercialisation on children so that we can understand more fully the benefits and downsides of children's exposure to the commercial world. This work is ongoing and Mary MacLeod of the Family and Parenting Institute is a member of the panel.

In light of the proliferation of commercial pressures, FPI is also working with the business community to encourage more responsible practice and has published 'Business thinks Family', written for FPI by Dr Agnes Nairn, which asks business to work with families to ensure their online marketing is fair, transparent and plays by the rules.

FPI links

Business Thinks Family, Dr Agnes Nairn (February 2009)

Marketing to children and parents - a checklist, Family and Parenting Institute (February 2007)

We were also involved in the writing of the Compass report The Commercialisation of Childhood (December 2006)

Commercialised kids: what's going on these days?, Dr Agnes Nairn (November 2006)

Hard Sell, Soft Targets, Family and Parenting Institute (February 2004)

External links

The Impact of the Commercial World on Children's Wellbeing: Report of an Independent Assessment