It’s a Hard Time to Parent

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

By Andrea Delbanco

Editor in Chief, TIME for Kids

Last week, U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory about a mental health and stress crisis among parents. “What we have to realize as a country is that the work of parenting is really vital to the well-being of our kids, and to our society overall,” he says. “That means the well-being of parents really matters to society.”

A lot has been written about the modern stressors children face, like social media. But parents are suffering, too. “Technology and social media allow us to now compare ourselves not just to the few parents around us, but to thousands of parents, all of whom can make us feel more insecure about how we are parenting," Murthy says. "And that contributes to a greater sense of shame and guilt around the hardships that parents experience.”

My colleague Alice Park reports on the advisory and shares some solutions in the article “Parenting Is More Stressful than Ever. Here’s How to Cope.” Thoughts? As always, you can reach me at andrea@time.com.

Best,
Andrea