What Do Millennials and Gen Z Do Better When It Comes to Parenting vs. Their Parents?

I asked my parents and their friends—mostly born in the sixties—how parenting differed back then, and what they think of how we parent today.

I was born in Belgrade, Serbia (then Yugoslavia) in 1991. Parenting styles vary from country to country, so these reflections come from people who grew up in Europe, in what was a very liberal and prosperous place—minus the nineties :)

My mum and me on our way to Montenegro where we used to spend our summers

Building a lingerie brand for mums-to-be and new mums is especially engaging and exciting, but even more so because it brings together so many pieces of the puzzle. ROBE isn’t just about lingerie—it’s about creating a shared space, one that includes parenting, partners, wellbeing, and more. That’s why it felt important to look back, especially after I became a mum myself.

It’s tricky to define a “good” parenting style, so I went straight to the OGs: the baby boomer parents who raised me and their friends, who knew us as kids in the nineties and early 2000s. In total, about ten people answered different sets of questions:

• What did parenting look like back then vs. now?
• Did you have a lot of help?
• Who did you ask for advice when you needed it?
• Is there something you don’t like about the way we parent today?

My sister and I during our winter holiday in the mountain called Bjelasica, Montenegro

Their answers stunned me—mainly because they all shared that they didn’t put so many expectations on parenting. They just took it day by day and tried to do their best. I know some might find that triggering, given what we know now about parenting and child psychology, but it’s worth noting. “Less expectations and more freedom” is how I’d frame most of their replies.

Additionally, they didn’t have the internet, social media, and all that jazz. They relied purely on maternal/paternal instinct and maybe a few friends—mostly paediatricians for medical advice. Interestingly, many felt there was more structured medical support for new parents back then compared to now. And because choices were more limited, they felt they had to make the most of what they had—and they did.

My aunt told me she would’ve listened more closely to her kids—or, put differently, she would’ve treated them more like adults. She felt that even though they struggled later in life, talking openly and underlining love made all the difference. Most parents echoed that sentiment: love for their kids was the purest, simplest, and most constant force in their parenting.

Their village was mostly friends and family—something that feels less common today. I can safely say my parents didn’t have much when my sister and I were growing up, but they gave us something invaluable: warmth, presence, and the ability to see and understand other people.

Maybe the answer to all of this is to have more love, to practice love, to show love?

This was truly an amazing way to reconnect with my parents, and I’m curious—how do you see it?

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