Labelled for Life is the new resource from the Bye Buy Childhood campaign. Aimed specifically at families, Labelled for Life is a book full of ideas and strategies to help give confidence and strategies to handle the pressures put on parents. The booklet is full of helpful tips – many contributed by members who are themselves parents – to ensure parents are able to manage their child’s expectations and build their awareness of the advertising industries around them.
To mark the launch of Labelled for Life, Mothers’ Union commissioned a survey into Christmas pressures on parents which shows that 72% of parents have bought their children a gift that was on their Christmas list which they really couldn’t afford. An identical number (72%) of parents have worried about receiving their bank and credit card statements in January. In addition, 46% of parents have taken out a loan, or got themselves into financial difficulty to give the family a good Christmas.
Many parents (36%) also feel pressured at Christmas into buying presents which they believe to be inappropriate to the age of their children, with 59% agreeing that they have bought their child a gift from their Christmas list which was unsuitable for them. This pressure is particularly marked in larger families: 68% of parents with more than three children have bought their child a gift that was on their Christmas list that they didn’t think was suitable for their age group, compared to 55% of parents with one child.
Labelled for Life includes helpful sections on:•How marketing is aimed at your child: Worried about how children are being targeted by adverts and the impact this may have on their wellbeing? This section gives details and explanations to parents?of the latest marketing and advertising strategies.•Managing commercial influences on your child: Want to protect your child online but don’t know how? We have practical advice about the various technological safeguards available.•Getting your views heard: Angered by something you ahve seen on TV but don’t knkow who to speak to in order to reaise your concerns? This section provides information on who to make your complaints to.
The booklet is in full colour and set at a not for profit price of only £2. Available from Mothers’ Union on 020 7222 5533, mu@themothersunion.org or dowload our order form here.
For the full details of the survey’s findings visit the ComRes website here.
