Clues into Gen Z parenting styles can be found in their approach to these two powerful elements

Yahoo

10-05-2025

The Silent Generation thought that kids should be 'seen and not heard.' Boomers were focused on getting kids to college. Gen X—perhaps wanting to not replicate their own latch-key childhoods—had a tendency to helicopter parent their little ones, while millennials are largely drawn to 'gentle parenting.' But what about Gen Z's parenting style?
Yep, that's right: Many of the oldest members of Gen Z, who range from 13 to 28 years old, are already parents, with women between 20 and 24 accounting for 26.3% of all U.S. births in 2023 (the most recent data available).
So what's their parenting style all about? The jury is largely out, as their kids are still little—and not able to share experiences with researchers to allow for a full picture. And there's not much in the way of other data.
'My instinct is that there will be a lot of elements of how they were parented,' Corey Seemiller, generational researcher, leadership educator, and coauthor of Generation Z: A Century in the Making, tells Fortune about what to expect from Gen Z parents, adding that some of her research found that 69% of Gen Zers called a parent their No. 1 role model.
There are also not many Gen Z celebrity parents to look to yet, save for Naomi Osaka, Hailey Bieber, Sofia Richie, and Kylie Jenner—though one Gen Z couple, known simply as Matt and Abby, have become popular influencers with their 5.2 TikTok followers thanks to their seemingly honest posts about raising two little kids.
'Letting go of your selfishness and your freedom at a very young age…I don't think we realize how selfish we are as human beings until we have children,' Jenner has said about first becoming a mom at 19. 'But, you know, that is also the biggest pro.'
Between the few young celeb parents speaking out, Gen Zers sharing about their kids on social media, and scant amounts of research, here's what's starting to become clear about the newest generation of parents.
Gen Z is the first generation of digital natives—with one survey finding that more than half aspire to be influencers. Still, a 2024 survey found that Gen Z parents are rejecting the type of perfectly curated content that first put 'momfluencers' on the map. And while they are avid posters of content, many chafe at the idea of their own kids getting on social media.
'Social media serves as a really complex place, especially for a parent,' 25-year-old TikToker Alyssa "Ice," mom to kids 4 and 16 months, tells Fortune. 'While being an amazing space to seek support from other parents, get answers to unknown questions, as well as be inspired, it is also very easy to fall into a rabbit hole of comparison and judgment.'
And when it comes to her own kids going online? 'I personally want to keep my children away from the internet until they are old enough to comprehend the dangers of it as well as the benefits,' she says—echoing Jenner, who has said, for her kids, 'It's no socials for as long as possible.'
Content creator Kayli Jones, 21, who entered parenthood as a teen mom, shares a lot on Instagram about raising her two kids, 1 and 3, with her husband and former high school boyfriend. And after a childhood of 'unrestricted access to the internet,' she says—getting her first phone at 8, social media in fifth grade, and accruing over 400,000 followers on the video platform Likee by seventh grade—she is vigilant about not allowing the same for her kids.
'I prioritize internet safety for my children by not posting their faces online,' she says, while also limiting their screen time. 'We do not allow our kids to have iPads or any internet access at the moment,' says Jones. 'As far as when we will allow them to have socials, that depends on how far the internet progresses when they get to that age. Right now we plan to allow them to get their own social media when they are in high school.'
Still, observes Seemiller, not all Gen Z parents will think alike when it comes to this issue.
'For some of them, they were on [social media] a lot, and it was really helpful in making connections. They may want to see their children have that same experience,' she says. 'Some of them have had very negative experiences on social media where they were bullied, harassed. There's a fear of judgment. There's people not liking their comments and pictures.' As a result, many young parents may indeed have strict rules about keeping kids off socials.
'So, I think you're going to run into less of a monolith than we think when it comes to that,' Seemiller says, 'depending on their own personal experience in that space.'
By the time she was 23, tennis great Osaka was a mental health advocate and role model on the world stage. Four years later, in January 2025, she had her daughter Shai, and it's hard to believe she won't parent through the lens of all she's learned.
'This is a generation that really broke the stigma of mental health,' says Seemiller. 'They often will say what they need. They will assert their autonomy and want to get resources, whether that's in schools or the workplace… I can't possibly imagine they would not want to parent their kids by also reducing any kind of shame around that.'
Perhaps it's why, found a 2021 Vice survey, 'Gen Z parents are more attune to trusting their own instincts when it comes to the actions they take that influence their children's growth and development. Ultimately, they do what they think is best based on what feels right for their own children's individual circumstances, even if that conflicts with advice from their family or doctor.'
For Jones, that means apologizing to her kids when she's wrong, 'even though I'm the mother,' she says, and even though it's 'something that is a bizarre concept to my parents' generation.' She also does 'daily affirmations' with her little ones, and says, 'I will always make sure that they know they can talk to me about anything without getting in trouble or feeling ashamed or embarrassed.'
Alyssa, meanwhile, uses her awareness of mental health to base her entire parenting philosophy on 'unlearning a lot of the traumas that I experienced in my youth,' she says, and believes that having such an awareness is a 'huge advantage' as a parent. 'We are better equipped to support our kids and get them the resources that they may need at any point in their life,' she says. 'Not only that, but taking care of our own mental health and really valuing it allows us to be better parents.'
More on parenting:
How do parents raise all their kids to be successful? New book by Yale professor, 'The Family Dynamic,' uncovers clues
The 4 basic parenting styles—and what science says about which is best
Modern parenting is hurting kids and adults, 'Anxious Generation' author warns
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com