A new advisory from the US Surgeon General raises the alarm about the stresses of modern parenting, as 40 percent of American parents report that most days, “they are so stressed they cannot function.”
The findings catalogued in the 35-page report Parents Under Pressure reframe the individual experience of parental stress as “an urgent public health issue,” drawing on data from dozens of studies, surveys and data sets to argue that US parents are facing stress levels greater than at any other time in recent history. “Something has to change,” warns Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in his foreword for the report, adding that he hopes the advisory “will help catalyse and support the changes we need to ensure all parents and caregivers can thrive.”
Gretchen Salyer, founder and CEO of June Care, a company connecting parents with other families for child care, told USA Today, “It’s the warning we all needed.” She echoes Murthy in emphasising how parental mental health has knock-on effects on their children and the wider community.
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The report focuses on a number of factors driving parental stress, including threats to children’s health and safety, increased demand for parents’ time, and the rising costs of childcare. Those costs increased 26 percent over the last decade, according to White House data, far exceeding federal guidelines that say child care should be no more than 7 percent of your income. A 2024 survey by caregiver site Care.com found an average of 24 percent, with more than a third of respondents (35 percent) dipping into savings to cover costs.
Threats to children’s health and safety range from concerns about school shootings, a painfully real threat that stresses most parents (74 percent), to social media, which can isolate children from loved ones and impact their own mental health. Parents face significant isolation as well, with the report citing a 2021 survey that found nearly two-thirds of parents (65 percent) experience loneliness, a figure that jumps even higher for single parents (77 percent).
Increased demands on parents’ time contributes to that isolation as federal data shows parents are working longer hours on average and spending more on child care, making it increasingly difficult to find time for friends and to afford socialising. Amid this, there’s also been a strong downward trend in Americans becoming parents, with fertility at its lowest level on record and those who do start families doing so later in life. To counter these trends, the report advocates for increased access to early education and health programmes, national paid family and medical leave, social infrastructure to connect parents, and access to affordable, quality mental health care.
