New Report on Loneliness and Parenting
“Raising children is sacred work. It should matter to all of us.”
In his report, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy sets the above quote over the rest of his text. As you can see from his words above, he chose to highlight both the sacredness of care giving and that our society does not prioritize raising children as it should. According to Dr. Murthy, that de-prioritization causes unique stress and loneliness in parents and caregivers. He ends his report summary by saying, “We must do more to better support parents and caregivers.”
Here are two key takeaways from the report:
- Parents consistently report experiencing high levels of stress compared to other adults. 33% of parents report high levels of stress in the past month compared to 20% of other adults.
48% of parents say that most days their stress is completely overwhelming compared to 26% among other adults - Parents and caregivers experience a multitude of unique stressors from raising children. These include financial strain, economic instability, and poverty; time demands; children’s health and safety; parental isolation and loneliness; technology and social media; cultural pressures and children’s futures.
While this is a sobering report, it is also striking that even government officials recognize the sacredness of caring for the littlest of these. May we as a society, and especially the Church, grow as places of sacred parenting and help empower parents and caregivers for the important and taxing but holy work.
You can find the PDF of the report at this link and the summary video on YouTube at this link.
Until next time,
Sam Rogers, Director of Karis Parenting
Did you know?
Authoritarian and authoritative parenting sound similar but are quite different!
- Authoritarian parenting focuses on strict rules, harsh punishments, and limited communication. Children may appear well-behaved but often struggle with aggression and low self-esteem.
- Authoritative parenting emphasizes clear guidelines, open communication, and supportive discipline. This leads to confident, responsible children with better self-regulation, higher self-esteem and high academic performance.
Read more at this link.