Parents Under Pressure: The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Their Mental Health and Wellbeing

United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents, highlighting the urgent need to better support parents, caregivers, and families to help our communities thrive.

Burnout, exhaustion, and overwhelm are causing a human energy crisis in workplaces around the world and for many parents, life at home can be just as stressful adding to declining mental health and wellbeing.

Stressed Out Parents

A press release about the advisory, reported that over the last decade, parents have been consistently more likely to report experiencing high levels of stress compared to other adults. When stress is severe or prolonged, it can have a harmful effect on the mental health of parents and caregivers, which in turn also affects the well- being of the children they raise. Children of parents with mental health conditions may face heightened risks for symptoms of depression and anxiety and for earlier onset, recurrence, and prolonged functional impairment from mental health conditions.

“Parents have a profound impact on the health of our children and the health of society. Yet parents and caregivers today face tremendous pressures, from familiar stressors such as worrying about their kids’ health and safety and financial concerns, to new challenges like navigating technology and social media, a youth mental health crisis, an epidemic of loneliness that has hit young people the hardest.”  – U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. 

There are approximately 63 million parents living with children under the age of 18 in the United States, and there are millions of additional caregivers who hold the primary responsibility for caring for children. This population experiences a range of unique stressors that come with raising children; including common demands of parenting, financial strain and economic instability, time demands, concerns about children’s health and safety, parental isolation and loneliness, difficulty managing technology and social media, and cultural pressures. Mental health conditions disproportionately affect some parents and caregivers, including those facing circumstances like family or community violence, poverty, and racism and discrimination, among others.

Systemic Impact and a Needed Culture Shift

The work of parenting is essential not only for the health of children but also for the health and future of society. Better supporting parents will require policy changes and expanded community programs that will help ensure parents and caregivers can get paid time off to be with a sick child, secure affordable childcare, access reliable mental health care, and benefit from places and initiatives that support social connection and community.

This Surgeon General’s Advisory calls for a shift in culture, policies, and programs to ensure all parents and caregivers can thrive. The American public can do more to support parents and caregivers by shifting norms to foster a culture that values, supports, and empowers parents/caregivers and addresses stressors that can impact their mental health and well-being.

A Warning Call

Surgeon General’s Advisory is a public statement that calls the American people’s attention to a critical public health issue. While I am not a parent of children under 18, I do feel a responsibility as an aunt, sister, neighbor, and friend to many with young children. The iconic phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child…” rings true.

The Broken System of Childcare

As the Advisory reports, financial stress related to childcare costs, health and education expenses, and employment and income insecurity is an important contributor to parental stress. In the last decade, childcare 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.

“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 childcare their family needed (24% and 20%, respectively). 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. A review of 108 studies (n=250,553 parents) found a significant association between food insecurity and symptoms of parental depression, anxiety, and stress.”

The sandwich generation includes parents who are also caring for aging parents or other family members, and they 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.

Working Parents

According to Dr. Murthy’s research, the average employment work hours for parents have increased over time with many working well over 40 hours a week. Balancing work commitments and occupational-related stress with family responsibilities can lead to work-family conflict, guilt, and burnout among parents.

Parental Stressors that Impact Mental Health and Wellbeing

• Financial Strain, Economic Instability, and Poverty
• Time Demands
• Children’s Health and Safety
• Parental Isolation and Loneliness
• Technology and Social Media:
• Cultural Pressures and Children’s Future

Caregivers Need Care, Too

There are important cultural shifts needed to make parenting sustainable and to enable parents and caregivers to thrive:

1. Value and respect time spent parenting is on par with time spent working at a paying job, recognizing the critical importance to society of raising children.
2. While parents and caregivers may have the primary responsibility for raising children, they shouldn’t have to do it entirely on their own. Raising healthy, educated, and fulfilled children is at the heart of building a strong future. It benefits all of society. And it is a collective responsibility.
3. We need to talk openly about the stress and struggles that come with parenting. Many parents and caregivers have a tough time with the evolving demands of parenting—from financial strain and family issues to adjusting to life with rapidly changing technology and managing mental health challenges for themselves and their children.
4. We must foster a culture of connection among parents to combat loneliness and isolation. Parenting is made more difficult when we feel lonely—as more than half of parents do.
5. Create opportunities for parents and caregivers to come together, share experiences and ideas, and support each other can strengthen parental well-being.

What Employers Can Do

Stress is pervasive in most workplaces and not exclusive for those raising children. Employers can be part of the solution to strengthen the health and wellbeing of all workers with these actions:

• Expand policies and programs that support the well-being of parents and caregivers in the workplace.These can include offering paid parental, medical, and sick leave, flexible and fair work schedules, and access to childcare (in the community or on-site).
• Implement training for managers on stress management and work-life harmony. Employers should include training, support, and resources for managers on how to recognize signs of stress and mental health challenges among parents and caregivers and how to support work-life harmony. Managers and leaders can also exemplify a family-friendly culture by actively including parents in leadership roles, which can put them in a position to support the overall well-being of other parents in the workplace and illustrate that career advancement and parenting roles can coexist.
• Provide access to comprehensive and affordable high-quality mental health care. Research shows that mental health conditions among adults not only impact their productivity in the workplace but can also increase perceived barriers to accessing health care.

I see the stress of parents in my family, amongst my friends, and with my clients. The work of parenting is essential not only for the health of our children but also for the health and future of our society. Consider how you can make a difference – whether you are a parent, or not. The health and wellbeing of our future is at stake.