Gonzalo Bernardos in children's fashion: “Go for the grandparents!”
The media professor of economics at the University of Barcelona points out that retirees are those who have the most purchasing power and support children and grandchildren, while young people prioritize leisure over durable products.
“Go more to the grandparents, that’s where the money is . ” Gonzalo Bernardos, professor of economics at the University of Barcelona, yesterday gave this advice to entrepreneurs in the children’s fashion sector in Spain and outlined all the arguments that support it. In summary, two: first, retirees are those with by far the greatest purchasing power in Spain and, second, consumption patterns have changed. And a bonus track : “when you’re a grandpa you go crazy.”
During his speech at the tenth annual conference of the Association of Children’s Products (Asepri), Bernardos indicated that in Spain pensions are “very generous”, bulging the pockets of older people and making them by far the age segment with more purchasing power. Not only that: by natural laws they are also the ones who receive inheritances when they are in their fifties.
“Its audience is not only parents, taking into account that in Spain grandparents support their children and grandchildren,” said the economist. In addition, young people have changed their consumption patterns, in changes that “affect for the worse” an industry like children’s fashion, he warned.
Bernardos maintains that pensions in Spain are high and, in addition, retirees are the ones who have received the most inheritances
Young people, he developed, “only think about the present,” although they are the ones with the most future: they skyrocket spending on leisure and tourism, they do not generate savings even with the purchase of a home (hence, in part, inflation in the rental market in the main European cities) and have a minimal commitment to their jobs.
With a focus on the short term, studies that are extended with masters and postgraduate degrees and an inclination to seek immediate personal well-being, young people do not enter the labor market until an older age than previous generations. “And when they do, they look for ‘the work of my life,’” Bernardos illustrates.
Hence, the professor explains, having children is extended until after the age of 30 or 35, in a trend that in his opinion cannot be reversed with policies to encourage birth. The result? Older parents who avoid spending on durable goods and who need the help of their own parents to raise a family.
Another factor, Bernardos continues, that plays in favor of the idea of attacking grandparents is that they “do not want to educate their grandchildren”, but rather they experience the so-called “grandfather syndrome” with their grandchildren: they want to play with their grandchildren. to the same games they used when they were children.
The vein of immigrants
The other source for the children’s fashion sector is, according to Bernardos, immigrants. In a context of increased immigration, foreigners not only have a higher birth rate, but they also led job creation in Spain in 2023: the number of jobs rose by 11% among foreigners and only 1. 8% among inhabitants of Spanish nationality.
Although with a generally lower purchasing power, the professor points out that foreigners are more interesting for children’s fashion than Spaniards: not only because they take on jobs that Spaniards do not want to do, but also because their birth rate is much higher.
