By Mark Seavy 

Despite a decline in global birth rates, there has been a recent rise in licensing deals for products targeting babies, infants, and toddlers.  

U.S. birth rates hit their lowest level since 1979 (reaching 1.7 births per woman) and birth rates in Japan reached levels not seen since 1969. There were 350,074 births in Japan between January and June this year, down 5.7% from the same period in 2023. In Korea, birth rates are 0.72 births per woman.  

Yet this downturn in birth rates hasn’t dissuaded companies from signing licensing deals for baby-, infant-, and toddler-focused products.  

Spin Master, for example, is launching a 13-SKU collection this fall inspired by music, phrases, and imagery from Rachel Griffin Accurso’s Ms. Rachel YouTube series. Some of the products will be under the Melissa & Doug brand, which Spin Master acquired for $950 million last October. 

Dr. Seuss Enterprises, meanwhile, is launching Dr. Seuss Babies featuring author Theodor Seuss Geisel’s well-known characters across feeding solutions (Playtex Baby), diapers (Hello Bello, which also has a Beetlejuice license), and onesies (Posh Peanut).   

And Brazilian personal care products company Grupo Boticario introduced baby body care (repairing cream, lotion, moisturizing oil), hair care (shampoo and conditioner), and bath products (liquid soap) under Proctor & Gamble’s Pampers diapers brand. 

“Birth rates are declining, but women are having children later,” a licensing executive said. “The thought is, women that are older may have more money to spend on their children under five years old and tend to spend more on toys.” 

Indeed, the fertility rate of American women 20 to 24 years old fell 43% between 1990 and 2019, while the fertility rate of 40- to 44-year-old women increased 132%.  

The decision of more consumers to have children later or to not have children at all is also altering the experience of grandparents, who are prime candidates for buying baby-related products. About half of adults ages 50 to 90 years old in the U.S. were grandparents in 2023, down from 57% in 2018, according to an analysis of census data by the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University. 

This means there is heightened competition for the companies selling baby, infant, and toddler products. The result is a need to stand out, something that is increasing being accomplished with licensed brands.