Parenting is Hard: The Pew Research Center on Parenting Challenges

Today’s world can make parenting feel extremely challenging. Access to an immense amount of information - advice, research, pressures, perspectives, resources - can both help and overwhelm parents striving to do their best for their kids. Where should we place our attention? But, when we dig into parents’ concerns and priorities, one message is clear, even in all of the noise - across all demographics: parents are worried about their children’s mental health. Maybe we should start there.

In their 2023 study, the Pew Research Center dove into the driving factors behind the growing youth mental health crisis, focusing on parents’ perspectives and concerns about their kids. We found it interesting that 76% of parents report that they worry to some extent about their children’s mental health. And, parallel to that finding, 62% of those same parents feel parenting is harder than they expected it to be. The combination here, of concern and overwhelm, speaks directly to that parenting challenge of finding the right balance for your children and family. It highlights the very difficult task of identifying priorities and finding appropriate resources that work for your family, then leaving the rest; because, as much as we might wish we could, parents just can’t do it all. And, we get it – the stakes are high: we want to support our kids. But with all of these competing pressures, it can feel really tricky to find the best place to start. 

If you love data as much as we do, then you’re probably interested in more findings from the Pew Research Center! If so, check out Parenting in America Today. And, we’d love to hear your thoughts on their findings! Let us know what resonated with you. 

Bottom Line? Parenting is hard. InMind is here to help.