Parenting getting more and more stressful.

Camilla Cavendish, columnist at the Financial Times, reports on the growing isolation and stress experienced by parents.

Even with the amount of time parents spend with their kids increasing, there are downsides to this. The rise of one-to-one time with children is coinciding with a decline in the play date and parenting alongside friends. Hence the growing feelings of isolation.

Cavendish concludes:

When you’re already feeling stressed, being told not to pass your anxieties on to your children feels counterproductive: a recipe for piling on the pressure. But challenging society to support parents, and reduce isolation, is right. As the UK Covid-19 inquiry began its hearings this week on the impact of the pandemic on children, there will be much evidence about the traumatic impact of lockdowns on young people. But someone also needs to ask how parents are faring. We know that time spent with friends, which fell precipitously in lockdowns, has not recovered as robustly for parents as for non-parents. A big question is why. 

[ft.com]