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Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). Parents Under Pressure: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents [Internet]. Washington (DC): US Department of Health and Human Services (US); 2024.
Parents Under Pressure: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents [Internet].
Show detailsOver the past decade, parents have been consistently more likely to report experiencing high levels of stress compared to other adults.15 In 2023, 33% of parents reported high levels of stress in the past month compared to 20% of other adults.15
When stress is severe or prolonged, it can have a deleterious effect; 41% of parents say that most days they are so stressed they cannot function and 48% say that most days their stress is completely overwhelming compared to other adults (20% and 26%, respectively).16
This high level of stress among parents preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic notably contributed to additional stressors on parents and caregivers. Between 2016 and 2019, those reporting coping “very well” with the demands of raising children decreased from 67.2% to 62.2%.17 Subsequently, stressors identified by parents during the pandemic included children being home from school, worries about finances, and substantial concerns about their own mental health and the health and well-being of those in their care.18
Parents and caregivers encounter various stressors across the different life stagesa of children.
During early childhood, parents and caregivers often experience stress related to sleep disturbances, adjustment to new parental roles, and more work-family conflict.19, 20 As children enter mid-childhood, parents and caregivers may encounter challenges related to managing their child’s emotional, social, cognitive, and physical transitions alongside their own work and family responsibilities.21 During adolescence, parents and caregivers may face additional stressors associated with their child’s burgeoning independence, risk-taking behaviors, and peer influences.22, 23
Throughout their lifespan, parents and caregivers often face heightened stressors, including financial strain and economic instability, time demands, concerns over children’s health and safety, parental isolation and loneliness, difficulty managing technology and social media, and cultural pressures.
Additionally, the significant mental labor involved with parenting—balancing complex schedules, anticipating a child’s evolving needs, making countless decisions each day on behalf of a child, and monitoring progress—can limit working memory capacity and negatively impact attentional resources, cognitive functioning, and psychological well-being.24
Stressors related to child caregiving can also disproportionately burden some parents and caregivers, notably those with fewer resources and those who experience economic, social, political, and cultural marginalization.19, 25
A Snapshot of Parental Stressors
Throughout their lifespan, parents and caregivers often face heightened stressors, including financial strain and economic instability, time demands, concerns over children’s health and safety, parental isolation and loneliness, difficulty managing technology and social media, and cultural pressures.
Financial Strain, Economic Instability, and Poverty
Financial stress related to child care costs, health and education expenses, and employment and income insecurity is an important contributor to parental stress. For example, in the last decade, child care prices have grown by approximately 26% in the U.S.26 Financial worries are a major stressor among parents compared to other adults, with 66% of parents reporting feeling consumed by worries regarding money compared to 39% of other adults in 2023.16 Further, one-in-four U.S. parents said there have been times in the past year when they did not have enough money for basic needs (i.e., food for their family or to pay their rent or mortgage), and a similar share said they have struggled to pay for the health care and child care their family needed (24% and 20%, respectively).27 In particular, parents living in poverty often worry about fulfilling their children’s basic needs and the resulting stress can negatively affect their mental health, parenting capabilities, and their children‘s mental health.28 For example, a review of 108 studies (n=250,553 parents) found a significant association between food insecurity and symptoms of parental depression, anxiety, and stress.29
Time Demands
The average employment work hours for parents have increased over time, with parents now dedicating an average of 33.5 hours per week to employed work or engaging in work-related activities.30 This represents a 28% increase for mothers, rising from 20.9 hours per week in 1985 to 26.7 hours per week in 2022, and a 4% increase for fathers, increasing from 39.8 hours per week in 1985 to 41.2 hours per week in 2022.30, 31, 32 Balancing work commitments and occupational-related stress with family responsibilities can lead to work-family conflict, guilt, and burnout among parents.33
While parents and caregivers are working more, they are also spending more time engaging in primary child care than before. This care includes physical care, education-related activities, reading to/with children, and playing/doing hobbies with children, among other activities.b, c, 33 Time spent weekly on primary child care has increased by 40% among mothers from 8.4 hours in 1985 to 11.8 hours in 2022, and by 154% among fathers from 2.6 hours in 1985 to 6.6 hours in 2022.31, 32, 35 Of note, the overall time parents report providing primary child care is only a fraction of the amount of time parents report being with children.34 Evidence suggests that demands from both work and child caregiving have come at the cost of quality time with one’s partner, sleep, and parental leisure time.31
Parents who are also caring for aging parents or other family members face additional strain. In many instances they are responsible for primary caretaking, providing transportation, and assisting with health needs, amongst other responsibilities for aging parents, while also dealing with the demands of caring for children. In 2021, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults (23%) had a living parent age 65 or older and also either a child under age 18 or an adult child for whom they provide financial support.36 Caregivers who care for both children (<18 years) and aging family members (≥65 years) report more significant financial (23.5% vs. 12.2%) and emotional difficulties (44.1% vs. 32.2%) than caregivers who do not.37
Children’s Health
Health challenges of children may also result in stress for parents and caregivers. The mental health struggles of children can have a profound impact on parents and caregivers directly affected by their children’s challenges, as well as on those who fear their children may face similar struggles.38 Nearly 3-in-4 parents are extremely or somewhat worried that their child will struggle with anxiety or depression,39 an understandable concern given the current youth mental health crisis. Parents and caregivers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities often face greater stressors related to caregiving (e.g., learning specialized skills, navigating complex systems of services to support their children, and financial pressures).40 They also experience elevated depression and anxiety symptoms compared to parents and caregivers of children without intellectual and developmental disabilities.41 In the U.S., nearly one in five children (ages 0-17 years) have a special health care need, a term that includes those who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and need health services beyond that required by children generally.42 Allergies, ADD/ADHD, behavior/conduct conditions, asthma, anxiety, learning disability, and developmental delay were the most commonly reported health conditions among children with special health care needs.42 When surveyed, more than twice as many parents and caregivers of children with special health care needs reported “fair or poor mental health” compared to parents and caregivers of children without special health care needs (14% vs. 6%, respectively).43
Children’s Safety
Parents express concerns about children’s safety including worries about their children being bullied, kidnapped or abducted, getting beaten up or attacked, or having problems with drugs or alcohol.39, 44 Firearm-related injury has become the leading cause of death among U.S. children and adolescents ages 1-19 years old.45 School safety concerns among parents are high and typically rise after a prominent mass shooting occurs.46 School shootings, or the possibility of one, are a significant source of stress for nearly three-quarters of parents (74%).47
For additional information on the devastating and far-reaching consequences of firearm violence, please see the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America.
Parental Isolation and Loneliness
Social isolation and lack of social support can lead to heightened stress.48 In a 2021 survey, approximately 65% of parents and guardians, and 77% of single parents in particular, experienced loneliness, compared to 55% of non-parents.49 Furthermore, 42% of parents who experienced loneliness always felt left out compared to 24% of non-parents who experienced loneliness.49
Technology and Social Media
Nearly 70% of parents say parenting is now more difficult than it was 20 years ago, with children’s use of technology and social media as the top two cited reasons.50 A majority of parents of adolescents say they are somewhat, very, or extremely worried that their child’s use of social media could lead to problems with anxiety or depression (53%), lower self-esteem (54%), being harassed or bullied by others (54%), feeling pressured to act a certain way (59%), and exposure to explicit content (71%).51
For additional information on the impacts of social media on the mental health of children and adolescents, please see the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.
Cultural Pressures and Children’s Future
Societal expectations, norms, and pressures to meet perceived parenting standards can contribute to stress as well.52, 53, 54 As technological and economic forces have reshaped the world at a rapid pace, parents may find it more difficult to prepare children for a future that is harder to anticipate. Further, a modern practice of time-intensive parenting and contemporary expectations around childhood achievement may contribute further to the stressors faced by parents.54
BOX 1Summary: Examples of Parental Stressors That Can Impact Mental Health and Well-Being
The common demands of parenting, including sleep deprivation, time scarcity, and managing child behaviors that occur at certain stages in a child’s life, can contribute to stress for parents and caregivers.
| Financial Strain, Economic Instability, and Poverty can make it difficult for many families to meet their children’s basic needs, pay for child care costs, and provide for children’s health and education expenses. Financial worries continue to be a top stressor among parents.16, 27, 28 |
| Time Demands: The increase in time spent both on work commitments and with family responsibilities can contribute to work-family conflict, burnout, and stress.30, 33, 55, 56 |
| Children’s Health, including mental health challenges, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and acute or chronic illnesses, can add to parental stress levels.40, 43, 57 |
| Children’s Safety: Parents report concerns about their child being bullied, abducted, or attacked.39 Firearm-related injury has become the leading cause of death among U.S. children and adolescents ages 1-1945 and parents report that the possibility of a school shooting causes them significant stress.47 |
| Parental Isolation and Loneliness: Parents struggle with loneliness at higher rates than non-parents, which can exacerbate parental stress.48, 49 |
| Technology and Social Media: The rapid adoption and evolution of technology and social media have been difficult and stressful for parents to manage, including by posing new risks to children’s health and safety.50, 51, 58 |
| Cultural Pressures and Children’s Future: Cultural expectations, societal norms, and pressure to meet perceived parenting standards can contribute to parental stress.52, 53, 54 |
Footnotes
- a
Early childhood is typically from conception/birth to 8 years old, middle childhood is about 6 years old to 12 years old, and adolescence is 10 years old to 19 years old. (AAP, n.d.; NRC, 1984; WHO, 2024)
Sources: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). (n.d.). Early Childhood. Retrieved from https://www
.aap.org/en /patient-care/early-childhood/ National Research Council (NRC) Panel to Review the Status of Basic Research on School-Age Children, & Collins, W. A. (Eds.). (1984). Development During Middle Childhood: The Years From Six to Twelve. National Academies Press (US). [PubMed: 25032422]
World Health Organization (WHO). (2024). Adolescent Health. https://www
.who.int/health-topics /adolescent-health - b
According to the American Time Use Survey, household children are defined as “children under age 18 residing in the household.”
- c
This care includes physical care, education-related activities, reading to/with children, talking to/with them, playing/doing hobbies with them, looking after children, attending their events, travel related to care for them, and other child care activities. (BLS, 2024) This definition does not include time spent during an activity with a child in the presence, such as watching television with a child, which is considered a leisure activity, not child care. The overall time parents report doing primary child care is only a fraction of the amount of time a parent reports being with children. Time spent on child care also can vary depending on the child’s life stage, with infants and toddlers often requiring more time and attention. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor. (2024, June 27). American Time Use Survey Technical Note. https://www
.bls.gov/news .release/atus.tn.htm
- The Current State of Parental Stress & Well-Being - Parents Under PressureThe Current State of Parental Stress & Well-Being - Parents Under Pressure
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