88% of parents say being a parent is harder than ever

There’s no doubt: It’s a new parenting era than 20 or 30 years ago.

Now faced with questions about how to limit screen time, when to give children phones and how to protect them from cyber threats, there are simply some issues that today’s parents can’t get advice on from our own parents.

Does that mean it’s harder to be a parent today than when we were growing up? Yes, say 88% of young moms and dads.

According to a BPI Network survey of 2,000 parents in the United States and Canada, the leading reasons parenting feels harder than ever include: social media distractions, challenges with two working parents, emotional or behavioral dysfunction, peer competition or bullying, and violence and safety concerns in schools.

Of course, most of us weren’t fully aware of the challenges our parents faced when we were young—such as the fact they couldn’t readily call on their own moms for advice lest they wanted to rack up major long-distance bills and couldn’t have anything in the world delivered to their doorsteps within two days.

Regardless of whether it’s true, the perception that parenting is harder than ever has contributed to some two-thirds of the respondents saying they’ve experienced “parental burnout.”

“Parental burnout is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion,” says Neil D. Brown, LCSW, author of Ending The Parent-Teen Control Battle. “It leaves parents feeling chronically fatigued… and it can lead to depression, chronic anxiety and illness.”

With 40% reporting parental burnout has “significantly” affected their qualities of life and another 49% saying it has “somewhat” affected their wellbeing, it’s time employers take a vested interest in addressing the issue, says Dave Murray, Chief Strategy and Research Officer at the BPI Network.

“It is staggering to look at the incidence of [parental burnout] symptoms among working parents in America and understand the implications this has for added employee burden, cost, concern and downtime,” Murray says, adding that counseling services to promote healthy parenting should “certainly” be among the benefits employers look to offer.

Many working parents are also hopeful that their employers will recognize the importance of practices that support healthy balance between work and life—with 78% of respondents to Motherly’s 2018 State of Motherhood survey saying they believe it’s possible to combine careers and motherhood. Of those who worked outside the home, the biggest changes they would like to see include subsidies for childcare or on-site childcare, paid maternity leave and more flexible schedules.

In our second annual State of Motherhood Survey in 2019 just over half (51%) of mothers said “I feel discouraged: it’s extremely challenging managing trade-offs” associated with combining a career and motherhood.

The consequences of unaddressed parental burnout have an unfortunate way of spilling over to other members of the family. According to a recent study published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, a sample of 1,551 parents suggested “parental burnout has a statistically similar effect to job burnout on addictions and sleep problems, a stronger effect on couples’ conflicts and partner estrangement mindset and a specific effect on child-related outcomes (neglect and violence) and escape and suicidal ideation.”

While employers have a stake in addressing this issue, there’s also a lot that individuals can do—like starting by cutting ourselves a break on self-imposed expectations. As research has shown, the more grace we give ourselves and others in the ways we parent, the less prone we ultimately are to burning out.

And while we’ve heard this all before, it’s also worth remembering just how important it is to take time for ourselves. “We must have regular practices to refuel,” LMHC Jasmin Terrany previously told Motherly. “We don’t need to feel guilty about taking this time for ourselves—our kids will not only learn that self-care is essential, but when we are good, they will be good.”

Then don’t feel one ounce of guilt about using that time to call someone long-distance or place another Amazon Prime delivery so you can remember that parenting in this day and age does have its perks.

[A version of this post was originally published July 29, 2018. It has been updated.]

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