Gen Alpha

Gen Alpha

Image credit: Adobe Stock / Halfpoint.

This is the latest report in the monthly Adobe Stock Cultural Insights series, which includes a curated collection of related visuals and focuses on topics that are visually in flux, driven by changes in the world and their effects on consumer priorities.

Born between 2010 and 2024, members of Generation Alpha range from newborn to 14 years old. Gen A is the first generation to grow up entirely immersed in a digital world. With a global population projected to reach 2.2 billion by the end of this year, this cohort is the most diverse generation on the planet.

Exploring parenting priorities

Ranging in age from 28-43, Millennials comprise the vast majority of Gen Alpha's parents - and they're consciously parenting like no other generation before. They're planning their own paths to becoming parents, including diverse family structures, and they're actively selecting the parenting styles they want to adopt, such as whether they'll raise their children in gender-neutral homes.

Studies show that 69 percent of Millennials waited until they were married or living with a partner before having children, and 34 percent of Millennial parents actively planned and researched the best time to have children, compared to only 25 percent of Gen X parents. Millennial parents are also prioritizing time spent with their kids in all areas of their lives. In fact, 77 percent are prioritizing time with their children over their careers. Millennial mothers (59 percent) and fathers (49 percent) are more likely to be putting their careers on hold or giving less attention to work to focus on raising children.

Prioritizing physical and mental health

Families raising Gen A's digital natives are striving to ensure that their children have a healthy blend of screen time and outdoor activities. As they recognize the potential harms of technology - including the effects of social media on children's and teens' self-esteem - a growing number of parents are seizing opportunities to give their Alpha children a digital pause, with much more phone-free time and outdoor exploration.

Physical activity and spending time outdoors enhance physical fitness and play a critical role in the development of mental and emotional health, fostering confidence and connection. With a growing epidemic of mental health issues that's disproportionately affecting young people, getting children to play outside and enjoy the fresh air has never been more important. The World Health Organization recommends that children aged one to five should spend at least three hours engaged in physical activities each day, and those aged five to seventeen should get at least an hour of moderate to vigorous activity each day.

Providing children with spaces to play outside promotes social, emotional, cognitive, and physical benefits. In places with insufficient space for large play areas, we're seeing a global rise in the creation of interactive installations that provide Gen A with opportunities for imaginative play.

Third spaces, malls, and playgrounds enable children of all ages to play with minimal supervision. Playgrounds are particularly important because they encourage children and tweens to face their fears and strengthen their confidence. Enabling unstructured, unsupervised play supports problem-solving and peer-to-peer learning, replacing screen time with real-life social interaction and autonomy. Plus, disagreements, fights, and both fair and unfair play are all part of the resilience learning curve. Challenging interactions between kids and teens teach them how to resolve conflicts, regulate their emotions, and control their behaviors.

The benefits of games and gaming

As they encourage Gen A youth to balance IRL and digital play to help them develop focus and creativity while having fun, families and educators are increasingly aware of the benefits of both analog and digital games and gaming. In a time of information overwhelm, gaming with friends and family keeps Gen Alpha engaged and supports more effective, open communication as well as a greater sense of togetherness. GWI reports that, more than any other generation, Gen Alpha is reimagining video games by using them as social hangouts and launchpads for learning.

As detailed in a Razorfish report released this summer and created in partnership with British research firm GWI, researchers conducted interviews with 3,474 kids ages 9-13 and their parents. The respondents were based in the US, France, Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and the UK, and findings showed that Gen A kids in all these countries love to engage with games and gaming for both play and education. "Gaming surrounds all facets of their lives and has created a basic expectation that play should be a part of many of their experiences," the study noted. In addition, when they were asked about brand experiences they'd most enjoy, more than half the respondents (53 percent) chose games and apps that teach useful skills.

Playing games has also proven to help children develop academic skills like mathematical reasoning and reading. Educators are embedding play into the learning process with interactive gamified activities that engage young students. When it comes to learning, Alphas are all about using games to harness knowledge. Within edutainment, there's a particularly strong appetite for short and sweet content as Gen Alphas prefer efficiency in both time (62 percent) and simplicity (63 percent). This could explain why hacks and how-to videos ranked as this group's top learning source.

Explore the Gen Alpha Collection on Adobe Stock

This diverse collection presents cross-sectional visuals of Gen A engaged in a wide range of activities, whether playing independently or with friends, family, and teachers. These visuals present kids age 14 and younger involved in healthy play outdoors, from sports to unstructured activities, as well as in learning environments both at home and in school with family members and educators.

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