How Will China’s Newborns Juggle Old and New?

Helen Lee, a new enoVate contributor, offers a unique perspective on kids being raised with both traditional and modern values. She is herself a Post-80′s consumer. She knows what’s up.

The effects of the one-child policy, combined with two decades of tremendous economic growth, have established a new consciousness in consumer behavior for the Post-80′s generation, especially as they become parents.

The Post-80′s generation now has a dominant role in the consumer market. As this generation matures into moms and dads, new markets for children’s products are opening up, further cementing the Post-80s generation’s role in China’s consumer market. But how will this new generation of young parents deal with their own child’s upbringing — balancing traditional values, and the modern ideals they’ve adopted?

Old-World Values

Chinese culture has a long-standing tradition of grandparents’ involvement in a child’s upbringing, allowing the parents the time to work to support their families. Lucky Chen, 27, a Shanghainese makeup artist and mother to a 4 year-old boy, points out that her child eats the best food when he is with his grandparents. They feed him traditional foods, enabling him to stay slim and healthy, rather than feeding him the fast foods, cookies, and candies that are so prevalent today.

(Credit: i”SNY! (Melbourne))

She adds that the grandparents’ adhere to old world values, and do not allow her son to play video games, instead offering him intellectual heritage, telling him old fables, popular myths and family history.

Modern Ideals

On the other hand, Lucky has more modern approach to parenting than her parents. She admits her excessive computer usage for research and online shopping, noting that she does not want to set a bad example for her son. China’s Post-80s demographic are working hard towards an ideal image of being the perfect parents, part of which places an emphasis on having good knowledge of health and safety. At present, there are countless print and on-line resources specializing in parenting, including Parents Magazine, Parents Science Magazine and fumu.com. These media outlets also serve as a powerful platform for advertisers of local and international brands.

Another phenomenon new to the Post-80′s generation is Celebrity Parenting. Xiao S, a popular Taiwanese TV show host, published Pregnancy Diary in 2006 in which she detailed her close-knit relationship with her child. Pregnancy Diary, became an instant hit in both China and Taiwan, landing Little S an endorsement deal with Beishule Diapers. She is just one of a now growing network of celebrity parents. Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung also used his role as family man to further his celebrity, appearing in commercial for Wyeth Milk Powder in 2009.

Celebrity parenting is new to China, but the speed at which this phenomenon is becoming popular in Chinese media points to changing values in parenting.

Best of Both Worlds

Post-80s generation parents have the unique vantage point of standing in between these old-world values and modern ideals, coming of age during China’s rapid economic growth, while grounded by the traditions of their parents.

Guangdong Daily recently reported that Post-80s urban parents in Shenzen on average spend RMB 2000 – 3000 monthly on their children. Constrained by the commitments of work and careers, these Post-80s parents are still unable to perform round-the-clock parental duties, but through their financial commitments, they express their desire to give their children everything possible, leaving the door open for brands to capitalize on China’s new and emerging parents.