Excerpts from the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents
Parents often say parenting is one of the best jobs but also one of the hardest. The work of parenting is essential not only for the health of children but also for the health of society. Additionally, we 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 directly and indirectly, impacting families and communities across America.
The mission of the California State PTA is to positively impact the lives of all children and families. As the following information—adapted from a recent advisory published by the U.S. Surgeon General—makes clear, one critical part of meeting our mission is strengthening awareness of the importance of the mental health of parents and caregivers.
Approximately 63 million parents in the United States are living with children under the age of 18. There are also millions of non-parent caregivers who hold the primary responsibility of caring for children. Parents and caregivers play a critical role in providing the formative, safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments that children need.
Parental Stress is Real and Increasing
Parents today face new stressors that previous generations didn’t have to consider. These include the complexity of managing social media, concerns about the youth mental health crisis, and an epidemic of loneliness that disproportionately affects young people and parents, just to name a few.
Parents across all backgrounds want to provide their kids with a foundation for happiness and success. One response to a world where success and fulfillment feel increasingly out of reach has been an intensifying culture of comparison. Often, influencers and online trends propagate unrealistic expectations around childhood milestones, parenting strategies, achievements, and status symbols that kids and parents feel they must pursue.
Chasing these unreasonable expectations has left many families exhausted, burned out, and perpetually behind.
During early childhood, children’s parents and caregivers often experience stress related to sleep disturbances, adjustment to new parental roles, and more work-family conflict.
As children enter mid-childhood, parents and caregivers may encounter challenges in managing their child’s emotional, social, cognitive, and physical transitions alongside their own work and family responsibilities.
During adolescence, teens’ parents and caregivers may face additional stressors associated with their child’s burgeoning independence, risk-taking behaviors, and peer influences.
At all stages, parents and caregivers often face heightened stressors related to raising children, such as:
- 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, parenting involves significant mental labor, including balancing complex schedules, anticipating a child’s evolving needs, making countless daily decisions on behalf of a child, and monitoring progress. These concerns can limit adult working memory capacity and negatively impact attentional resources, cognitive functioning, and psychological well-being.
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.
Financial stress related to child care costs, health and education expenses, and employment and income insecurity is an essential contributor to parental stress.
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.
While parents and caregivers are working more, they also spend 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.
Evidence suggests that work and child caregiving demands have come at the cost of quality time with one’s partner, sleep, and parental leisure time.
Parents 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.
As advocates for children and families, PTAs are credible messengers about these issues.
PTA Leaders Can Advocate For Policies that Support Parents’ Mental Health
Call on policymakers to do more:
- Promote and expand funding for programs that support parents and caregivers and their families.
- Establish a national paid family and medical leave program and ensure all workers have paid sick time.
- Invest in social infrastructure at the local level to bring parents and caregivers together.
- Address the economic and social barriers that contribute to the disproportionate impact of mental health conditions for certain parents and caregivers. Priorities should encompass poverty reduction. Ensure parents and caregivers can access comprehensive and affordable high-quality mental health care.
Push employers to adopt parent-friendly policies:
- Expand policies and programs that support the well-being of parents and caregivers in the workplace.
- Implement training for managers on stress management and work-life harmony.
- Provide access to comprehensive and affordable high-quality mental health care.
PTAs Can Strengthen Local Awareness and Support Systems
Engage schools and community organizations in this issue:
- Foster open dialogue about parental stress, mental health, and well-being in culturally appropriate ways.
- Equip parents and caregivers with resources to address parental stressors and connect to crucial support services.
- Create opportunities to cultivate supportive social connections among parents and caregivers.
- Elevate the voices of parents and caregivers to shape community programs and investments.
- Strengthen and establish school-based support programs.
PTA Members Can be There for Each Other
As family and friends:
- Offer practical support. Increasing support can help reduce the impact of stress.
- Connect with parents and caregivers in your life regularly. For example, find opportunities to include parents and caregivers in your routine by scheduling a weekly walk or planning a regular call to check in.
- Learn about mental health challenges parents and caregivers may face.
In our roles as parents and caregivers:
- Remember, caring for yourself is a key part of caring for your family.
- Nurture connections with other parents and caregivers.
- Explore opportunities to secure comprehensive health insurance coverage for yourself and your family.
- Empower yourself with information about mental health care.
- Recognize how mental health challenges manifest and seek help when needed.
Raising children is important work. It should matter to all of us. And the health and well-being of those caring for our children should also matter to us. The Surgeon General hoped that this Advisory would help catalyze and support the necessary changes to ensure all parents and caregivers can thrive and PTA can help.
For additional information, shareable resources, and a downloadable PDF of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents, visit https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/parents/index.html