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At the Geena Davis Institute, we take a research-driven approach to advance our mission of diverse representation and inclusion on screen. Our annual study on children’s TV representation is a cornerstone of our approach. Analyzing children’s programming, we assess diverse representation across gender, race, LGBTQIA+ identity, disability, age, and body type. Comparing these findings with previous years offers a clear picture of how children’s TV representation is evolving on screen.

We analyze both new and popular children’s TV programming in this report. New programming includes TV programming actively being made for children in the U.S., according to the trade database Luminate, by Variety. Popular programming is the scripted shows most watched by children ages 2 to 11 in the U.S., according to Nielsen metrics, which includes broadcast, cable, and streaming.

In this executive summary, we present the key findings in 2025, focusing on the state of children’s TV representation for various groups on screen and in leading roles, as well as statistically significant differences in how groups are depicted in the following ways: being objectified, wearing revealing clothing, shown dating, whether they are married or in a committed relationship, shown kissing, engaging in sexual activity, with any job, or in a STEM occupation, or if they are leaders.

Key findings on children’s TV representation in 2025

New Programming for Children in 2025

Gender Representation

Female representation in new programming has declined for two straight years after peaking in 2023. The gender gap is largest for animated characters that are nonhuman(animals, monsters, etc.).

  • In new programming from 2025, 41.3% of all characters were female. This was a 1.3-percentage-point decrease from 2024 (42.6%), and a 3.5-point decrease from 2023 (44.8%).
  • Of all leading characters, 43.2% were female. This represented a decline from previous years: In 2024, 48.5% of lead characters were female, and in 2023 46.7% were female.
  • Male characters were significantly more likely than female characters to be white (48.7% compared with 33.9%), while female characters were significantly more likely than male characters to be characters of color (66.1% compared with 51.3%).
  • Male characters were significantly more likely than female characters to be fat (8.5% compared with 4.8%).
  • Female characters were significantly more likely than male characters to be shown wearing revealing clothing (3.8% compared with 1.7%).
  • Female representation is even more limited among animated characters than live-action ones: Only 40.6% of animated characters in 2025 new programming were female — the lowest share since 2020, and down from the record high of 44.2% in 2023.
  • Among animated characters, nonhuman characters (animals, monsters, aliens) were significantly more likely to be male than animated human characters (64.7% compared with 53.1%), while animated human characters were significantly more likely to be female (46.9% compared with 35.3%). The medium’s most male-skewed characters are nonhuman.
Race/Ethnicity Representation

Representation of characters of color reached a record high in 2025, both overall and among leads, continuing a generally steady climb since 2018 — but that numerical gain hasn’t translated into equal treatment on screen, as white characters remain significantly more likely to hold a job or be portrayed as a leader. Characters without a race (such as cartoon animals, aliens, or monsters) are excluded from the denominator as are cartoon characters with yellow skin.

  • In 2025 new programming, 58.5% of all characters are characters of color, which is a 9.4-point increase from 2024 (49.1%) — the highest share recorded since tracking began in 2018.
  • Characters of color are 64.2% of all leads in 2025 new programming, an 11.6-point increase from 2024 (52.6%) and also a record high across the eight years studied.
  • Of all characters, 41.5% are white, while 29.3% are Black, 16.0% are Asian and Pacific Islander, 7.3% are Latinx, 2.2% are multiracial, 1.0% are Native, and 1.6% are Middle Eastern/North African. Representation of Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, multiracial, and Middle Eastern/North African characters all increased from 2024 — with Asian/Pacific Islander and MENA characters reaching their highest shares since 2023 — while Latinx and Native representation each declined slightly for a second consecutive year.
  • White characters were significantly more likely than characters of color to have an occupation (36.4% compared with 26.6%).
  • White characters were significantly more likely than characters of color to be portrayed as leaders (23.2% compared with 16.8%).
LGBTQIA+ Representation

LGBTQIA+ representation has been on a long decline since peaking in 2019, with 2025 marking another low point.

  • In new programming from 2025, only 0.5% of all characters were LGBTQIA+, compared with 1.5% in 2024.
  • No LGBTQIA+ characters were leads. In 2024, 1.4% of leads were LGBTQIA+.
Disability Representation

Disability representation has stalled at roughly less than 2%OKGoBlended of all characters for eight consecutive years with no meaningful upward trend, though 2025 did produce a record share of disabled leads even as the overall disabled-character share ticked down.

  • Only 1.0% of all characters were disabled in new programming from 2025 — a slight decrease from 2024, when 1.8% of all characters were disabled.
  • Among leads, 2.1% were disabled characters, representing a slight increase from 2024 (1.7%).
Body-Type Representation

Fat representation has grown gradually since 2018, but 2025 pulled back from a 2024 peak in characters overall.

  • Of all characters in new programming from 2025, 7.2% were fat — a decrease from 2024, when 10.2% of all characters were fat.
  • Among leads, 3.8% were fat, down from 5.5% in 2024 and 6.5% in 2023.
Age Representation

Representation of characters 50-plus in shows made for kids has been essentially flat for years.

  • Only 7.7% of all characters were ages 50 or older, similar to 2024, when 7.5% of all characters were 50-plus.
  • Among leading roles, 0.0% were 50-plus, compared with 0.7% in 2024.
  • Fifty-plus characters were significantly more likely than characters under 50 to be shown in leadership portrayals (34.1% compared with 19.0%).
Gender Representation

The gender gap in popular programming remains wide, but it’s narrowing even as female leads fell sharply from 2024’s high and remain well below the 2018 peak of 52%.

  • In popular programming from 2025, the share of characters who were male was 17.8 points higher than the share who were female (58.9% compared with 41.1%). This was a smaller gap than in 2024, when the gender gap still favored male characters but the difference was 21.8 points (60.9% compared with 39.1%).
  • In popular programming from 2025, 38.6% of leads were female characters, representing a 6.6-point decrease from 2024 (45.2%) but a 7.5-point increase from 2023 (31.1%).
Race/Ethnicity Representation

Unlike new programming’s steady climb, representation of characters of color in popular shows has swung unpredictably year to year with no clear trajectory, and leads of color actually slipped slightly in 2025 after two years of little movement.

  • In popular programming from 2025, characters of color made up 35.9% of all characters, representing a slight increase from 2024, when characters of color were 33.3% of all characters.
  • Of leads, 31.2% were characters of color — similar to 2024 when 32.7% were characters of color.
  • Characters of color were significantly more likely than white characters to have an occupation (61.6% compared with 46.7%).
LGBTQIA+ Representation

LGBTQIA+ representation in popular programming has fluctuated since 2019 without a clear trend.

  • In popular programming from 2025, LGBTQIA+ characters made up only 1.0% of all characters, compared with 1.3% in 2024.
  • LGBTQIA+ characters did not appear in any leading or minor roles. In 2024, LGBTQIA+ characters were 1.4% of leading roles but were not represented in any minor roles.
Disability Representation

Disability representation in popular shows dropped sharply from 2024’s high, even as disabled leads — despite year-to-year volatility — remained close to their strongest showing on record.

  • In popular programming from 2025, only 1.3% of all characters were disabled — a decrease from 2024, when 2.9% of all characters were disabled.
  • In popular programming from 2025, 2.9% of leading roles were disabled characters — a decrease from 2024, when 4.1% of leading roles went to disabled characters.
Body-Type Representation

Fat representation pulled back from 2024’s peak, but the story for leads moved the opposite direction: fat leads jumped from 5.5% to 8.6%, their strongest showing across the years measured.

  • In popular programming from 2025, fat characters made up 12.3% of all characters — a decrease from 2024, when 16.1% of characters were fat.
  • The representation of fat leads increased in popular programming from 2025: 8.6% of leading characters were fat, compared with 5.5% in 2024 and 5.4% in 2023.
Age Representation

Representation of characters 50 and older has climbed fairly steadily since 2021 before ticking down slightly in 2025, while older leads slipped for the second year in a row and remain well off their more volatile earlier highs — even though 50-plus characters are disproportionately likely to be shown as leaders when cast at all.

  • In popular programming from 2025, characters who were ages 50 and older made up 16.1% of all characters, similar to 2024, when 16.9% of all characters were 50-plus.
  • The representation of 50-plus leads remained fairly steady, with 5.9% of leading characters being 50-plus in 2025, compared with 6.8% in 2024.
  • Fifty-plus characters were significantly more likely than characters under 50 to be portrayed as a leader (33.3% compared with 15.7%).

A Call to Action: Change is Needed Now

As our founder Geena Davis has said on many occasions, “There is one sector where representation imbalances can be changed overnight, and that is on screen.” For years, we’ve seen signs — in the data, and within our own partnerships — that this change was underway. But the 2025 data tell a different story: Female representation is backsliding, and for LGBTQIA+ and disability representation, a handful of standout years are outliers, not a trend — the line underneath hasn’t moved. Overnight change is possible. But it is not happening on its own. The recommendations below are to help move the needle forward:

  • Close the gender gap by balancing episode-level focus, not just cast lists. Female leads declined in 2025 in new programming from 2024 (43.2%, down 5.3 points). As this report notes, in new TV much of that decline comes from mixed-gender ensemble shows where the episodic “A” story — and therefore the lead credit — skews toward male characters even when the overall cast is more balanced. We recommend that writers’ rooms and showrunners be conscientious about which character carries the episode across a season and set an intentional balance, rather than relying on ensemble casting alone to produce parity in leads. Treat this decline as an early-warning signal in current development pipelines, and prioritize protecting female lead roles specifically, since that’s where the decline is sharpest.
  • Rethink the default gender of animals and nonhuman creatures. Nonhuman characters are about half of all characters in new programming (51.7%) yet only 35.4% of all nonhuman characters are female. Female representation among human characters has climbed since 2018, while the nonhuman share has barely moved. Because animals, monsters, and objects carry no real-world demographic, their gender is a purely creative choice, and one that can change overnight. We recommend that writers and character designers make gender an active decision when developing animal and creature characters, starting with leads, rather than defaulting to male.
  • Make racial progress stick, from new shows to popular ones. New programming for kids has reached a record high for characters of color (58.5% of all characters, 64.2% of leads), but popular programming lags far behind. Among leads, it’s just 31.2%, down from 32.7% the year before. Because what becomes popular is shaped by what networks and streamers renew, rerun, and promote, closing this gap will take action beyond the writers’ room: renewal criteria, rerun scheduling, and recommendation algorithms should weigh representation, too.
  • Widen racial representation beyond a few groups of color. A record share of characters of color doesn’t mean every community is being seen. In new programming, Black and Asian and Pacific Islander characters account for the large majority of characters of color. Latinx, multiracial, Middle Eastern/North African, and Native characters share a small remainder. We recommend that development teams look at racial diversity within casts. Hiring writers and cultural consultants from ethnically diverse communities can help ensure these characters are written with specificity rather than as one-off or generic roles.
  • Give LGBTQIA+ characters more presence. LGBTQIA+ representation in new programming peaked at 3.2% in 2019; in 2025 it is just 0.5%, and LGBTQIA+ leads dropped to zero this year. But presence doesn’t always require a storyline — it can be as simple as two moms at school drop-off, woven into the world rather than making it the plot. Think not only about LGBTQIA+ storylines, but how representation shows up in the details — who’s in the carpool line, who’s at the birthday party, who’s just there.
  • Set a concrete bar for disability representation. Disability representation has hovered around roughly less than 2% of all characters for eight consecutive years in new TV shows, with no meaningful upward trend. It certainly can be difficult to make disability visible on screen, especially when so many are by definition invisible. But small changes can have a big impact. We recommend development teams set a specific, trackable target for disabled characters in leading and notable supporting roles each season. Characters’ disabilities could include blindness, deafness, ADHD, dyslexia, limb differences, cerebral palsy, autism, Downs syndrome, dyspraxia, stuttering, dwarfism, Tourettes, and more.
  • Audit AI-assisted development and writing tools for the same representation gaps found in human-made content. AI-generated children’s stories with animal protagonists are already reproducing the gender imbalances we document in traditionally animated programming. As studios adopt AI tools earlier in development and writing, we recommend proactively auditing these tools for the same gender, racial, and other representation gaps identified throughout this report, so that AI-assisted production does not reentrench patterns the industry is otherwise working to correct.

How to cite this study

Terán, L., and Conroy, M. (2026). “GDI’s 2025 children’s TV report: Gender backslides even as racial representation hits a record high.” The Geena Davis Institute.

See our previous reports on children’s TV representation