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

Details

• Journal Article:
  Public Health Reports
• Personal Author:
  Van Buren, Kristen W. ; Lundstrom, Eric W. ; Omari, Amel ; Marks, Kristin J. ; Johnson, Candice Y. ; Shi, Dallas S.
• Description:
  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. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Family
  • Mental Health
  • Occupational Health
  • Parents
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Mental health
  • Families
  • Children
  • Occupations
  • Work arrangements
  • Work schedules
  • Policy
  • Well-being
  • Psychosocial factors
  • Work-family conflict
  More +
• ISSN:
  0033-3549
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Atlanta Region OSHA ; Chicago Region OSHA ; Georgia ; Michigan ; Ohio
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  8 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071856
• Citation:
  Public Health Rep 2026 Jun; :Epub ahead of print
• Contact Point Address:
  Kristen Van Buren, DrPH, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Field Studies and Engineering, 1090 Tusculum Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA
• Email:
  opv7@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/260078/cdc_260078_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 468.31 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:85b89f6518562e98e02db762f5a0553e7f1cb070201d449f00867ffa6d42e6b668a8269d938982aae35e79630c9a1402106a221b299f75ce59d2fda1bd10c195