A new report from the Surgeon General lowers the bar on bad academic scholarship and represents the worst kind of political pandering. Apparently, raising children is stressful and parents are stressed to the breaking point. The following is an excerpt:
[W]e know that the well-being of parents and caregivers is directly linked to the well-being of their children. The stresses parents and caregivers have today are being passed to children in direct and indirect ways, impacting families and communities across America.In addition to the traditional challenges of parenting—protecting children from harm, worrying about finances, managing teenagers who are searching for independence—there are new stressors that previous generations didn’t have to consider. These include the complexity of managing social media, parents’ concerns about the youth mental health crisis, and an epidemic of loneliness that disproportionately affects young people and parents, just to name a few.
According to the report, one-third of parents (33%) report high levels of stress in the previous month, compared to 20% of other adults.
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).
We’ve all heard that raising kids can be both rewarding and a source of stress. My mother used to joke, “insanity is hereditary, you get it from your kids.” The cause of stress is (you probably already guessed it) kids cost you money and sap your time!
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. 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. 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).
Also demands on parents’ time are a source of stress. Waiting in those long lines at school to pick up and drop off their kids, rather than having the kids ride the bus or (Heaven forbid) walk home or ride their bikes adds additional time burdens to their day. The time it takes to shuttle the kids to soccer practice, travel sports leagues, T-ball, scouts, play dates and other extracurricular activities is tough. It raises my cortisol level just thinking about all that. Perhaps this paragraph has too much of my editorial slant. Here is what the report did say:
Balancing work commitments and occupational-related stress with family responsibilities can lead to work-family conflict, guilt, and burnout among parents. 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.
Now comes the annoying part. The doctor’s prescription for all this stress? Taxpayer subsidies and tax credits. Yes, the document is well-timed political pandering masquerading as public health research.
[P]olicymakers should bolster support for child care financial assistance programs such as child care subsidies and child income tax credits; universal preschool; early childhood education programs such as Early Head Start and Head Start; programs that help nurture healthy family dynamics such as early childhood home visiting programs funded by the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program; and services and support for family caregivers like Healthy Start Programs and the Lifespan Respite Care Program.
There’s more, including paid family leave, paid sick time, more parks, affordable mental health care, etc.
The idea that raising kids can be both rewarding and stressful at the same time is no secret, but apparently every generation of new parents must learn the lesson for themselves. Parental stress seems like an odd choice for the Surgeon General to expend Health and Human Services research dollars on. It’s little more than a political document.
Report from the Surgeon General: Parents Under Pressure (hhs.gov)