The Geena Davis Institute has released the latest edition of its See Jane report, sharing recommendations for how representation can improve on kids TV in the US.

This annual study takes a closer look at how gender, race, LGBTQ+ identity, disability, age and body size are represented. While the report doesn’t publicly specify which shows were analyzed, the methodology focuses on series with newly released episodes and programming that’s popular with US kids ages two to 11, according to Nielsen data. (The Nielsen Foundation funded the study.)

For 2023, the overall gender split remains largely the same as the previous year—male characters (55.5%), female characters (44.4%) and nonbinary characters (0.1%). Looking more specifically at leading roles in popular programming, female characters only represented a 43.8% share, which is down seven points from 51.1% in 2022. However, for new programming, female leads were up from 44.3% in 2022 to 47.8% last year, a record high for this measurement.

When it comes to body sizes, the report noted that 6.1% of all characters in popular programming last year were plus-sized—down from 7.1% in 2022. But again, this representation improved in new programming, where 7.9% of all characters had larger body types last year, versus 6.3% in 2022. (And this uptick was much sharper for lead characters at 6.9% in 2023, compared to 2.7% the year prior.) 

But the report also flagged that plus-sized characters are significantly more likely to be male than female in both new (65.1% male and 34.9% female) and popular (73.1% male and 26.9% female) shows. “This means that girls and women on screen are likely reinforcing for viewers the notion that the ideal feminine body type is thin,” the report suggests, calling for more diversity in female body types in kids TV. “Unrealistic body types in the media lead adolescent girls to struggle with body-image concerns as early as age five.”

There were no LGBTQ+ leading characters in new programming last year, compared to 2.4% in 2022. People of color were better represented, making up 63.4% of leads in 2023, versus 56.1% a year ago. “There is little representation of Native and Middle Eastern or North African groups, and Latine representation is low in new programming being made for children,” the report notes.

The See Jane 2024 study is available for download on The Geena Davis Institute’s website.

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