Helicopter parenting – the tendency for parents to hover over every aspect of their children’s lives – has been on the rise for decades.

Mums and dads today devote far more time to child-rearing than parents did a few decades ago. In many Western countries, parents now spend about 50 per cent more time interacting with their children than in the 1970s. In the US, this amounts to an extra 105 minutes each day of parent-child time compared to the ’70s norm.

A lot of this extra effort goes into “enriching” activities. US parents spend 3.5 times more hours per week on homework help and educational play than they did in 1976.

This trend is truly global, very present in Australia, but the US has detailed data and your friendly neighbourhood Stats Guy felt a bit lazy this week (I’m typing this on a tablet while travelling with the family).

Parents spending time with their kids is hardly a bad thing.

The flip side of intensive parenting is that children have less unsupervised freedom.

In 1969 about 41 per cent of American kids walked or biked to school on their own; by 2001, only 13 per cent did so.

Free outdoor playtime for US kids aged 6 to 8 fell by 25 per cent between 1981 and 1997, while time spent on homework doubled.

These stats reflect a cultural shift – the era of “come home when the streetlights turn on” is over and has been replaced by constant adult oversight. That’s why the term “bubble wrapped generation” is thrown around. (Book tip: The coddling of the American Mind).

Helicopter parents don’t park the chopper at preschool and continue hovering through high school and beyond. US College staff noticed this trend as early as the 2000s.

A Kaplan survey of admissions officers found 77 per cent believed parental involvement in the college application process was increasing. Universities responded with special orientations and newsletters just for parents. There are anecdotes of parents contacting graduate schools and even employers to advocate for their adult children. Behaviour like this would have been unthinkable a generation ago.

The evidence is clear that “intensive parenting” has been trending up. The question remains why?

My demographer’s brain immediately looks for a demographic explanation.

One massive shift that correlates with the rise of helicopter parenting is the rising age of parents.

Today’s first-time mums in Australia are 32, first-time dads are 34. Back in 1971, when the baby boomers were still starting families, the median aged mum was only 25 years old.

Half of all Aussie first-time mothers are now over 30, compared to........

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