Tag: Moonpig

Nearly half of parents feel in competition to throw the ‘best’ birthday party, Moonpig reveals

  • Almost 50% of parents feel pressured to throw their baby or toddler a birthday party, even if they won’t remember it
  • Parents admit to spending up to £250 on their baby’s birthday
  • Dads feel the most pressure to throw their children the best birthday party

For many new parents, social media feeds are seemingly filled with scenes of extravagant birthday parties other parents are throwing their young children, leading to feelings of guilt and pressure to compete – but how much truth is in what we see online?

Moonpig, the UK’s leading online greeting card retailer, surveyed 1,000 parents of 0-3-year-olds to uncover how we’re really celebrating our children.

Competitive celebrations: Nearly half of all parents feel in competition with other parents to throw the ‘best’ party

The survey revealed that nearly half of all parents (49%) admitted to throwing a birthday party more for the guests and other parents than for the child themselves. Over two-fifths (43%) felt as though they competed with other parents to throw the ‘best’ party for their child.

Interestingly, the research revealed dads feel the most pressure when it comes to throwing the ‘best’ party, with more than half (52%) stating that they feel in competition with other parents, compared to just 39% of mothers. Similarly, half of Gen-Z (50%) were found to feel pressure to throw the ‘best’ party – more than any other age group.

Party pressure: A third of parents now hire a professional party planner for their toddler’s birthday

Almost half (46%) of the parents surveyed admitted to feeling pressure from family and friends to throw a birthday party for their young child. To make sure that the party lives up to expectations, one in three (30%) admitted to using a party planner to plan their toddlers’ birthday parties.

Planning stress: The majority of parents find planning their child’s birthday party a major source of stress

Over half of parents (55%) said they felt stressed when planning their young children’s birthdays, with mums suffering the most – with almost three in five mothers (57%) feeling stressed, compared to 49% of dads.

Picture-perfect parties: Social media influences parents to throw aesthetic birthday parties

Almost three in five parents (59%) felt inspired by social media to throw their young child an “aesthetic” birthday party. Gen-Z and millennial parents care the most about their child’s birthday looking picture perfect on social media, with 44% citing this as a key consideration. 14% went as far as to say the main reason they threw their young child a party was to post about it on social media.

Costly candles: Parents are struggling to stick to birthday party budgets

Brits spend on average £248 to celebrate their baby’s birthday, with 55% of parents revealing they struggle to stick to a budget for the occasion. In addition, almost two-thirds (65%) of parents agreed that birthday parties for babies and toddlers had become too extravagant.

When asked why they throw their young children birthday parties even if they won’t remember it, almost two-thirds (61%) cited that the celebration was to create lasting memories with family and close ones, and so their young child can look back on pictures and videos when they’re older.

Four in five (82%) also agreed that they prioritised creating memorable experiences for their child over an extravagant party.

Modern milestones: How parents celebrate their baby’s birthday

When celebrating their little ones, parents are likely to stick to the classics with traditional party food (66%), creating goodie bags (61%) and supermarket-bought birthday cake (61%), taking the lead on baby birthday party essentials.

RankBaby Birthday Essentials% Who Have Done This
1Offered traditional party food options (buffet, pizza, sandwiches)66%
2Created goodie bags for guests61%
3Bought a supermarket birthday cake61%
4Bought a custom-baked personalised birthday cake59%
5Arranged specific food and drink options just for adults (cocktails, nicer food)57%
6Created entertainment for the party myself52%
7Arranged activities for the guests to do (bouncy castle, inflatable obstacle course, giant slides)52%
8Baked my own birthday cake46%
9Given a party a pop culture theme (superheroes, princesses, favourite characters from movies/TV shows)45%
10Offered custom photo opportunities for guests (Balloon arches, custom backdrops, photobooths)42%

Sarah-Jane Porter, Moonpig’s Global Design & Licensing Director, comments: “At Moonpig, we champion celebrating milestone moments, and early years birthdays are no exception. With growing pressure to make sure our babies’ earliest celebrations are memorable, it’s unsurprising that parents are going the extra mile to celebrate their young children.

“We know how important it is for these special moments to feel truly unique and personal to the recipient, which is why our range of personalised cards are great for celebrating your little one.

“From sharing milestone pictures and videos or including their favourite characters, our cards are the perfect keepsake for them to look back on in years to come.”

Public urged to follow new flat-faced dog national plan to protect welfare

The Brachycephalic Working Group (BWG), a national group of the UK’s leading dog health and welfare organisations, has launched a new three-point plan that calls on the public to play their part in protecting the health of flat-faced dogs.  

The launch of the plan comes during Crufts – which offers a platform to talk about the serious health and welfare issues of some flat-faced dogs and the opportunities there are to drive improvement – and follows the recent announcement from online card retailer Moonpig that Pugs and French Bulldogs will no longer feature on its products.  

Many flat-faced dogs such as Pugs, French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs, especially those bred for profit and for extreme features like very flat faces or excessive wrinkles, can face serious health and welfare issues related to breathing difficulty, eye problems, skin fold infections, spinal problems and difficulty giving birth. 

Endless exposure that portrays these dogs as ‘cute’ looking in the media has resulted in an explosion in their popularity in recent years, with high demand being met by poor quality breeding both within the UK and via illegal importation from the EU. 

The BWG, which is made up of veterinary associations, welfare organisations, universities, the government, breeders and dog owners are highlighting the public’s shared responsibility to protect dogs from the health and welfare harms that can result from breeding for the flat-face ‘look’.

The new BWG plan lays out how dog owners and the wider public can help protect the health of flat-faced dogs. The new national plan comes at a critical tipping point when growing evidence suggests that the UK dog-buying public may finally be beginning to ‘Stop and think before buying a flat-faced dog’ as the BWG recommends.  

BWG has been working for the past seven years to reduce public demand for flat-faced dogs in the UK, and this work now appears to be taking effect. 

Figures from the UK’s largest canine welfare charity, Dogs Trust, show a significant decline in the importation of flat-faced breeds over the last five years*, while results from classified advertising website Pets4Homes suggests similarly decreasing interest in flat-faced dogs from buyers to their site**.

Dr Dan O’Neill, Chair of the Brachycephalic Working Group (BWG), says: “Maximising good health, welfare and temperament overrides all other considerations for dogs. Our new three-point national plan sets out how everyone in the UK can play their part in ending the flat-faced dog crisis.

“The BWG national plan asks prospective dog buyers to ‘Stop and think’ before buying breeds such as English Bulldogs, Pugs and French Bulldogs or before promoting images of flat-faced dogs publicly, for current owners of flat-faced dogs to be prepared for the extra health needs that can come with these body shapes, and finally in the future to only buy dogs with non-extreme body shapes.  

“The recent decision by Moonpig to cease selling products with imagery of Pugs and French Bulldogs is a welcome move that reflects growing public sentiment about the serious health issues of many flat-faced dogs. However, there is still plenty of work to be done and we need everyone in the UK to pitch in and help turn the tide on the flat-faced dog crisis for good.”

Bill Lambert, spokesperson for Crufts and The Kennel Club – a founding member of the BWG – added: “We all have shared responsibility to flatten the demand from the general public for unhealthy extremes in dogs which has been driven by popular culture.

“Whilst some flat-faced dogs lead healthy lives, some have severe respiratory disease and we must tackle these serious health concerns, which is why we have developed a test for this condition – the Respiratory Function Grading Scheme – offered free at Crufts.

“It’s so important that educational platforms like Crufts highlight these issues, provide resources to drive health improvements and signpost people to make responsible decisions when it comes to dog ownership.”

BWG-National-Plan-Our-shared-human-responsibilities-Infographic-230308Download

British Veterinary Association Senior Vice President Dr Justine Shotton says: “The news that Moonpig will remove Pugs and French Bulldogs from its cards, following years of campaigning by vets and animal welfare groups, shows how powerful collective action can be in bringing about positive change.

“It underscores the importance of our shared responsibility as advertisers, owners, breeders and vets to improve the health and welfare of dogs.

“We’re now calling on dog lovers across the country to play their part, to ‘stop and think’ before buying these breeds of dog and help share the painful truths about the extreme health issues they can suffer. Together we have an opportunity to make a real difference to these terrible breed-related welfare problems.”  

BWG’s three-point plan suggests:  

1.‘Stop and think’ if you’re considering getting a flat-faced dog or breeding from a current pet. 

If you’re planning to breed your dog, make sure it has passed the official Kennel Club/University of Cambridge respiratory function testing and other breed-specific veterinary health checks first. Avoid sharing social media posts that feature imagery of flat-faced dogs and encourage big brands to do the same. These steps can contribute to dramatically reducing the numbers and popularity of flat-faced dogs.

2. If you already own a flat-faced dog, help protect their health or welfare by learning to recognize the problems that these breeds can commonly suffer from.

For example, audible breathing and/or snoring at rest is never normal or acceptable. If you have any concerns, always consult your veterinary practice and don’t rely on advice found or given on the internet or on social media. 

3. If you still plan to buy a flat-faced dog in the future despite awareness of their health and welfare risks, make sure the puppy and its parents have passed all relevant health tests for their breed.

Use the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme and the Puppy Contract to help protect you and your puppy from unscrupulous and low-welfare sellers. Only get a dog that has been bred away from extreme body shapes, such as extreme flat faces, skin folds and lack of tail, all of which are linked to poor innate health. 

Visit the BWG website at  http://www.ukbwg.org.uk/?page_id=513 to view the full National Plan statement and to download the associated infographic.