About Parents

Parents

Parents was one of America's most enduring family magazines, published from 1926 until its print edition ended in 2022, and continuing today as a digital publication under People Inc. Founded by George J. Hecht as Children, The Magazine for Parents, the magazine spent nearly a century advising American families on child health, development, and family life — passing through the hands of Parents' Magazine Press, Gruner + Jahr, Meredith Corporation, and Dotdash Meredith along the way.

The 1926 Founding

The magazine was started by George J. Hecht in 1926. Originally titled Children, The Magazine for Parents, it reflected Hecht's belief that American parents needed expert guidance in raising their children. Hecht hired Clara Savage Littledale to be its first editor. The first issue was published in October 1926 and soon was selling 100,000 copies a month — a remarkable debut that showed how hungry young parents were for reliable advice.

The Name Changes

Beginning with the August 1929 issue, the name was changed to Parents' Magazine (with an apostrophe). Littledale was followed as editor by Mary Buchanan. In 1937, the magazine was granted trademark registration for the mark Parents' Magazine — a legal milestone that would matter decades later when a rival publisher tested the trademark in court. When the magazine was sold to Gruner + Jahr in 1978, it was "relaunched" and its name was shortened, utilizing only the word Parents, without an apostrophe — the title it carried for the rest of its print life.

The Comics Press

From 1941 to 1965, Parents' Magazine Press published a line of comic books and magazines heavily featuring comics, including such long-running titles as Calling All Girls, Children's Digest, Polly Pigtails, True Comics, and True Picture-Magazine. Parents Magazine Press also published Humpty Dumpty from the 1950s through the early 1980s, until it and Children's Digest were sold to The Saturday Evening Post company. The comics venture showed the company's ambition to reach young readers directly — and its instinct for the children's market that underpinned the flagship magazine.

The Gruner + Jahr Era

Parents' Magazine was sold to Gruner + Jahr in 1978, the German publishing giant's move into the American market. Elizabeth Crow became the magazine's editor for the next decade, before being replaced by Ann Pleshette Murphy, who was editor-in-chief between 1988 and 1998, and a contributing editor from 1998 to 2002. In 1992, Gruner + Jahr filed suit against Meredith for trademark infringement of Parents when Meredith published Parent's Digest. With the court finding no actual confusion of the products — though there was testimony from managers and employees as to inquiries about a possible relationship between the publications — the case was dismissed. The episode underscored the brand equity the title had accumulated over six decades.

The Meredith Years

Meredith Corporation acquired Parents magazine when Gruner + Jahr left the U.S. magazine business in 2005. Sally Lee was the editor from 1998 to 2008, and Dana Points served as editor-in-chief from 2008 to 2016. Under Meredith — the Des Moines-based publisher of Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, and other service titles — Parents sat naturally alongside the company's portfolio of magazines aimed at American families. Meredith also published Ser Padres, the Spanish-language companion, and the company's later acquisition of Time Inc. brought sister titles like People and Real Simple into the same corporate family.

The IAC Acquisition

In 2021, the Meredith Corporation was acquired by IAC in a $2.7 billion deal. The transaction was structured as a spin-off of a new Meredith Corporation, containing the magazines division, to existing shareholders, to be immediately followed by the old Meredith's TV stations group being acquired by Gray Television. On October 6, 2021, IAC's Dotdash announced the agreement to acquire Meredith's remaining magazine and other non-broadcast assets, forming a new entity called Dotdash Meredith. Both deals were completed on December 1, 2021.

The End of Print

On February 9, 2022, it was revealed that six former Meredith Corporation magazines — Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents, and People en Español — would cease having print circulation and switch to a digital-only format. Subscribers were notified of the magazine's dissolution via a postcard mailing in March 2022. The move, announced in a memo from Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel, eliminated roughly 200 roles and marked the end of Parents' 96-year print run — one of the longest in American magazine history.

The Digital Continuation

Parents continues today as a digital publication at Parents.com, part of People Inc. — the company Dotdash Meredith rebranded as on July 31, 2025. The digital brand covers the same territory the print magazine served for nearly a century: child health, development, behavior, and family life, now delivered to parents through the web rather than the mailbox. The company's offices span New York, Des Moines, and Birmingham.

The Dotdash Meredith and People Inc. Years

The decision to end Parents' print edition was part of a broader restructuring of the former Meredith magazine portfolio. After the 2022 move that pared roughly 200 jobs, the company cut 274 more positions in 2023, including 45 in Des Moines — the center of its magazine publishing operation — according to a notice filed on the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification website. Later cuts eliminated 53 jobs, primarily in the print business. The company's print portfolio still includes such publications as Better Homes & Gardens, Real Simple, Southern Living, and Allrecipes, but the six titles moved to digital-only in 2022 — Parents among them — never returned to paper.

On July 31, 2025, the company announced it had rebranded as People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel explained that the company wanted a simpler name more reflective of its business — suggesting that Dotdash Meredith sounded like a law firm or oil company — and chose to name it after People to reflect its position as both the flagship property and, amid the growth of artificial intelligence, "a really good representation of our narrative and what we do in this world." As of 2026, the company has invested in live experiences and expanded its events portfolio, and in response to AI-driven traffic declines, signed licensing agreements with OpenAI and Meta. In June 2026, People Inc.'s parent company announced a bid to buy the remaining shares of MGM Resorts International — valuing the company at $12.4 billion — though the offer was rescinded in September 2026. Through it all, Parents remains one of the company's digital health-and-family brands.

A Century of Service to Families

From Clara Savage Littledale's first issue in October 1926 to the final print issues of 2022, Parents advised generations of American families — through the Depression, the baby boom, the parenting revolutions of the late twentieth century, and the digital age. Few magazines have served a single audience so long; the title's endurance from Children, The Magazine for Parents to Parents' Magazine to Parents mirrors the changing language of American family life itself.

Official Website

Parents continues online at https://www.parents.com, where the brand publishes parenting advice, child-health information, and family-lifestyle content. The digital publication is owned by People Inc. (formerly Dotdash Meredith), headquartered in New York with offices in Des Moines and Birmingham.