By Alison Snyde, Sophia Cai, Erica Pandey | Axios
Parenting is hard. Parenting in a pandemic that has taken 1 million American lives, through an unpredictable economy, in a country where school shootings aren’t rare, baby formula is hard to come by and classrooms are political battlegrounds can feel borderline impossible.
Why it matters: There are 63 million parents in the U.S. with kids younger than 18 at home. They work; they volunteer; they’re raising the next generation of Americans — and stress and strain are hindering them from doing all of those things.
“There’s almost not a word to express the stress parents are under right now,” says Gloria DeGaetano, a parenting expert and founder of the Parent Coaching Institute. “‘Overwhelmed’ doesn’t cut it. It’s beyond anything we’ve ever experienced.”
What’s happening: Too much.
The rising cost of gas, groceries and other daily expenses — due to inflation, supply chain issues, global uncertainty, the war in Ukraine and Russia’s possible responses with cyberattacks or nuclear attacks — topped the list of stressors reported by Americans in a March poll by the American Psychological Association (APA) and The Harris Poll.
Children have questions about the world’s wars, sadness about the relationships and opportunities the pandemic is robbing from them, and fear and anger about the planet warming.
On top of their kids’ stress, parents have their own worries: 62% of parents said they feared their children could be victims of a mass shooting, according to a 2019 poll by the APA.
Black, Latino and Asian parents are uniquely stressed about racism, bullying and violence their kids may encounter.
Another pressure on parents: feeling like they have to have all the answers for their children.
