If you’re a stressed parent, you’re not alone. According to a new surgeon general advisory released on Wednesday, parents have been more likely to report high levels of stress over the last decade than adults without children.
“The work of parenting is essential not only for the health of children but also for the health of society,” writes the US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, himself a 47-year-old father of two. “We know that the wellbeing of parents and caregivers is directly linked to the wellbeing of their children.”
According to the advisory, parents are overworked and also spend a great deal of hours on childcare. “Demands from both work and child caregiving have come at the cost of quality time with one’s partner, sleep and parental leisure time,” reads the advisory.
The report addresses the mental health of the 63 million parents of children in the US and also its implications for the welfare of their children. “Parental mental health can influence the emotional climate, responsiveness and consistency of caregiving at home, all of which are crucial for a child’s emotional and cognitive development,” the report reads. “Children of parents with mental health conditions may face heightened risks, including for symptoms of depression and anxiety and for earlier onset, recurrence and prolonged functional impairment from mental health conditions.”
A 2023 survey of adults from the American Psychological Association found 33% of parents reported high levels of stress, compared to 20% of other adults, per Murthy’s report. Almost half of the surveyed parents reported overwhelming stress most days, compared with 26% of other adults. And according to research from health insurer Cigna, 65% of parents said they were lonely – 10 percentage points more than those without kids.
Some of the foremost stressors for parents include financial worries, concerns over children’s safety, anxiety over the scarcity of time away from work and fears about minors’ unhealthy relationship to social media and technology. “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,” states the report.
Potential solutions span policy change and personal behaviors. The report pushes for the government to make reforms including increased access to paid family leave and access to mental health programs. In addition, it recommends reforms at the workplace: for instance, training managers “on stress management and work-life harmony” and “access to comprehensive and affordable high-quality mental healthcare”.
In 2023, Murthy published an advisory calling loneliness an “epidemic”, and outlined ways for individuals to seek connection. Similarly, the surgeon general’s report on parents’ mental health also encourages parents to find social support, speak freely with friends about the stress of parenting and to recognize “how mental health challenges manifest and seek help when needed”.
