At the Geena Davis Institute, our motto is: “If they can see it, they can be it” – because what children see onscreen shapes what they believe is possible for themselves. Our annual TV study, GDI’s 2025 Children’s TV Report: Record Number of Female Leads in New Shows, in partnership with the Nielsen Foundation, analyzes popular and new children’s programming from 2018 to 2024 to uncover how kids are seeing gender, race, disability, LGBTQIA+ identity, age, and body size represented on screen. Presented at The Robin Williams Center at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation in New York City on Monday, September 8, 2025, our report revealed the following:
Male characters continue to outnumber female characters in popular and new children’s content.
- In 2024 popular programming, male characters outnumber female characters by 22.6 percentage points (61.3% compared with 38.7%). That is a wider gap than in 2023, when the gender gap still favored male characters, but the difference was 15 points (57.5% compared with 42.5%).
- In 2024 new programming, 42.6% of all characters are female. This is a 1.8-point decrease from 2023 (44.4%), and a 1.9-point decrease from 2022 (44.5%).
The proportion of female leads in popular and new children’s programming is up.
- In 2024 popular programming, 40.0% of leads are female characters. This is a 4.2-point increase from 2023 (35.8%) and a 7.9-point decrease from 2022 (47.9%).
- Of all leads, 48.8% are female. This is record-high, since we started collecting data on new programming in 2018. In 2023, 47.8% of lead characters were female and in 2022, 44.3% of lead characters were female.
Female characters are more likely to be shown in sexually revealing clothing.
- In 2024 popular programming, female characters are significantly more likely than male characters to be wearing revealing clothing (9.5% compared with 3.0%).
- In 2024 new programming, female characters are significantly more likely than male characters to be shown wearing revealing clothing (6.9% compared with 3.4%).
People of color make up fewer of all characters in popular and new children’s programming than previous years.
- In 2024 popular programming, characters of color make up 35.9% of all characters — a decline from 2023, when 40.5% of all characters were people of color.
- In 2024 new programming, 48.9% of all characters are characters of color, which is an 8-point decrease from 2023 (56.9%).
The representation of LGBTQIA+, disabled, older (50+), and fat characters remains low.
- In 2024 popular programming, LGBTQIA+ characters make up only 1.1% of all characters, compared with 1.0% in 2023. Only 2.5% of all characters are disabled. This is a slight improvement from 2023, when just 1.0% of all characters were disabled. Characters who are ages 50 and older make up 17.3% of all characters — an increase from 2023 when 9.8% of all characters were 50-plus. Fat characters make up 16.5% of all characters — an increase from 2023, when 6.5% of characters were fat.
- In new programming, only 1.5% of all characters are LGBTQIA+, compared with 1.6% in 2022. Only 1.7% of all characters are disabled — a slight increase from 2023, when 1.1% of all characters were disabled. Only 7.5% of all characters are 50-plus, compared with 9.4% in 2023. Of all characters, 10.2% are fat — an increase from 2023, when 7.9% of all characters were fat.
How can I support continued progress in children’s television?
- Follow and amplify organizations like us. Organizations like The Geena Davis Institute set baselines using data and numbers, work together with content creators and industry leaders, and provide resources to champion change onscreen.
- Support content that reflects your values. Because we believe that what children, and adults, see onscreen is important to their feelings of belonging and inclusion, we strive to share and praise content that reflects the true diversity of the world we live in.
- Be a critical television viewer – be like Geena. Like our founder, Geena Davis, pose questions about the television content you are watching and discuss them with those around you. Are all the characters you see onscreen men and boys? Are all the characters you see white? Do you see disabled, LGBTQIA+, older (50+), and fat characters onscreen?
How to cite these findings: Terán, L., and Conroy, M. (2025). “GDI’s 2025 Kid’s TV Report: Record Number of Female Leads in New Shows.” The Geena Davis Institute.
Check out the full report here.
Or check out our previous reports on children’s television
- See Jane 2024: How Has On-Screen Representation in Children’s Television Changed from 2018 to 2023? (2024)
- See Jane 2023: How Has On-Screen Representation in Children’s Television Changed from 2018 to 2022? (2023)
- See Jane 2022 TV – See It, Be It: What Children Are Seeing on TV (2022)
- See Jane 2021 TV: The State of Representation in Popular Television from 2016 to 2020 (2021)
- See Jane 2020 TV: Historic Screen & Speaking Time for Female Characters (2020)
- See Jane 2019 An Analysis of Representations in Film and Television (2019)