Self-Reported Mental Health and Desired Workplace Improvements Among Working Parents, United States, 2024.

OBJECTIVE

Few studies have examined the mental health burden faced by working parents. We assessed the prevalence of fair or poor self-reported mental health and identified desired workplace improvements among US working parents.

METHODS

We conducted a descriptive analysis of the 2024 SummerStyles survey, a nationally representative web-based panel survey of US adults aged ≥18 years. Working parents were defined as adults employed full- or part-time with ≥1 child aged <18 years. We calculated weighted percentages and 95% CIs to characterize mental health status and workplace priorities across demographic and occupational groups.

RESULTS

Among 1201 working parents, 15.3% (weighted n = 126) reported fair or poor mental health. The prevalence of self-reported fair or poor mental health was higher among women than among men (20.0% vs 11.4%), among those with lower annual household income (<$25 000: 31.6%) versus higher annual household income ($25 000-$49 999: 20.1%; $50 000-$99 999: 19.6%; >$100 000: 10.0%), among those with less versus more educational attainment (high school graduate or less: 20.2%; some college: 20.0%; ≥bachelor's degree: 10.9%), and among those with retail/stores/shopping jobs (26.8%) versus jobs in other industries (health care: 20.4%; education and tutoring: 8.0%; professional, scientific, technical, and business services: 11.4%; finance, banking, and health insurance: 10.2%). Desired workplace improvements included increased paid leave (20%), ability to work remotely/telework (20%), and flexible work schedules (19%), with differences by demographic and occupational characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

Tailored workplace policies, such as flexible scheduling and expanded leave benefits, may support the mental health of US working parents. Additional research should explore industry-specific nuances of preferred workplace flexibilities among US working parents to guide work-based interventions.