Parenting in 2025 is harder than the ‘90s—this mom’s viral reality check explains why
Photo Credit: Tiktok / @thebiggersthebetter
"The hardest thing about parenting in 2025 is that the parenting part isn’t really that hard. It’s everything else."
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If you’ve ever felt like modern parenting is an extreme sport, you’re not alone. TikTok creator Sarah Biggers-Stewart just put words to the exhaustion that so many parents feel—and her rant about a Disney trip of all things has hit home for thousands.
In her viral video, Sarah breaks down the sheer amount of planning, booking, and logistics required just to take her kids to the happiest place on earth—something her own parents just… did. No Lightning Lanes, no pre-booked dining, no 6 a.m. wake-ups months in advance just to get a semi-decent reservation.
“The hardest thing about parenting in 2025 is that the parenting part isn’t really that hard. It’s everything else.”
And that “everything else” is a pressure cooker of endless decisions, planning, and participation expectations—from sports leagues that treat 7-year-olds like they’re D1 athletes to classroom SignUpGenius madness that working parents are somehow still expected to participate in.
Parents in 2025 aren’t just raising kids. They’re managing them—on a 24/7 hamster wheel of optimizing, scheduling, and performing. And spoiler alert: It’s not just in their heads.
Related: Modern parenting is exhausting—I’m giving my kids an ’80s summer
The numbers don’t lie: Parenting really is harder now
Sarah’s video hits because it’s not just about Disney. It’s about the massive shifts in parenting culture—and the fact that the financial, social, and emotional load on parents today is objectively heavier than it was a generation ago. Here’s the data to prove it:
- The Cost of Raising Kids Has Skyrocketed: A study published by the Brookings Institution found that the average cost of raising a child to age 18 is now estimated at $310,605. That’s $100,000 more than it was in the 90s, adjusted for inflation.
- Childcare Costs Are Out of Control: In 2023, a study published in the Economic Policy Institute found that infant care cost more than in-state college tuition in 34 states. Full-time daycare now averages $11,000 per year, per child.
- Housing Costs Have Exploded: According to the US census, in 1990, the median home price was $120,000. In 2025? It’s over $417,000. That means today’s parents need way more income just to afford the same middle-class lifestyle their parents had.
- Overparenting Culture Is Real: In the 90s, free-range parenting was the norm. Today? A mom in Georgia was arrested for letting her 14-year-old son walk to the store alone—despite him being old enough to babysit.
And this doesn’t even touch the mental load of parenting in the digital age—where kids have unlimited freedom online but almost none in real life, where parents are expected to track, monitor, and optimize every aspect of their child’s life, and where, somehow, everyone is still expected to volunteer at the school bake sale.
So, how do parents survive 2025?
If you’re feeling like burnout is baked into modern parenting, you’re not alone. And while we can’t magically turn back the clock to a time when kids just showed up to soccer practice and didn’t need protein intake discussions, here are a few ways to push back on the chaos:
- Do Less, Opt Out: You don’t have to do it all. Your kid’s childhood will not be ruined if you skip the Pinterest-worthy birthday party, decline the extra classroom duty, or say no to an over-scheduled life.
- Find Your Parenting Village: Whether it’s family, friends, or an online community, having a real support system (one that doesn’t just pressure you to do more) makes a huge difference.
- Push Back on Over-Structuring: Not everything needs to be maximized, monetized, or micromanaged. Sometimes, it’s okay to just show up—even at Disney.
- Remember: You’re Doing Enough: Your parents didn’t have to juggle school apps, summer camp deposits, and constant sign-ups to be good parents. Neither do you.
At the end of the day, the best thing we can do for our kids isn’t to manage every moment—it’s to actually enjoy them.
Sources:
- The rising cost of raising children. Brookings. 2024. “It’s getting more expensive to raise children—and government isn’t doing much to help.”
- Child care costs in the U.S. Economic Policy Institute. “Child care costs in the United States.”
- Historical home values in the U.S. U.S. Census Bureau. “Median home values over time.”
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