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Busy Moms Say Parenting Pubs Out of Touch, Want Info Here and Now

Mothers of school-age children want customized parenting information that will help them deal with the complex parenting issues they face each day, but 69% say today’s parenting magazines are not relevant to their children, according to research conducted by MomConnection for Parenting Magazine.

Two-thirds of mothers prefer to live “in the moment” with their children and only will engage with information that is relevant to them in the here and now, the study found.

Though all moms share some of the same underlying priorities, the majority want customized, practical information that is tailored to the issues they face in their daily lives at each life stage. They also expressed a need for more resources that tackle school-related topics.

Mothers also say that the amount of information in parenting magazines becomes less relevant to them as their children reach school age, and that connecting with other mothers facing the same issues is more important than connecting with mothers who have children of similar ages.

Additional findings:

• 63% of mothers with school-age children 6 and older prefer to be in the moment with their children, rather than worrying about what’s coming next.
• 65% want the information they need to handle their kids now and will read about next stages when they get there.
• 76% feel that parenting magazines have less information of interest to them once their children start school.
• 76% would rather connect with moms who are dealing with the same issues they are, regardless of their age or the age of their kids.
• 78% feel that ideas for filling leisure time with children are always welcome, but they need help with bigger everyday parenting issues.

“Our research identified a clear need among today’s moms of school-age children: Their parenting issues - which differ significantly from those of moms with infants and toddlers - would be more effectively addressed by a dedicated offering that departs from the parenting category’s historical approach of one size fits all,” said Greg Schumann, VP and group publisher, The Parenting Group. “To respond to this clear need, we plan to introduce two new editions of Parenting Magazine. One will address the needs of moms with infants, toddlers and preschoolers; and another will focus on the issues of moms with children in kindergarten through age 12.”