More than half of full-time working parents in the United States say their job makes it harder to be a good parent, and nearly as many say parenthood is holding back their careers. Those are the headline findings from a sweeping new Pew Research Center report released in June that draws on a survey of 2,242 working parents conducted March 2 to 15, 2026 .
Work and family blur into each other daily
About half of full-time working parents (52%) say their job makes it harder to be a good parent, while 45% say being a parent makes it harder to advance at work. The collision of those two pressures is playing out moment to moment in American households.
Seven in 10 working parents (70%) handle parenting tasks while they are at work. Another 59% handle work tasks while they are with their children.
The pattern holds even for fathers: the majority of full-time working dads say they take care of parenting tasks while at work (62%) and work tasks while with their children (57%) at least sometimes.
As of 2025, just over half (52%) of different-sex couples with children under 18 consist of two full-time working parents, up from 46% a decade ago and 31% in 1975, according to Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. That structural shift makes the blurring of work and home life a majority experience rather than an edge case.
Mothers carry a disproportionate share of the load
The survey pointed to persistent inequalities in how parenting and household responsibilities are divided. Among married or cohabiting couples where both parents work full time, 52% say the mom takes on more parenting tasks, while smaller shares say the dad does more (10%) or that these tasks are shared equally (39%).
When it comes to household chores in dual full-time households, 38% say the mom does more, 22% say the dad does more, and 39% say it is about equal, according to the Pew report. Even when mothers spent more time working than fathers, respondents were still more likely to report that moms shouldered the greater share of parenting and household duties.
The emotional cost of missing family moments also falls harder on mothers. Among parents who have missed a child’s activity because of work, 65% of mothers say they feel extremely or very upset, compared with 45% of fathers, according to the report.
Time constraints compound the strain. Moms are more likely than dads to say they do not have enough time for themselves, for exercise, for relaxing and for other personal priorities, according to the Pew report.
Dads in dual full-time families are more likely than moms to say they are extremely or very satisfied with how they and their partner divide parenting tasks (55% of dads versus 36% of moms) and household chores (49% versus 26%).
Childcare affordability is the biggest practical obstacle
The Pew report also examined the biggest challenges parents face in finding child care. Based on a survey of 849 working parents with at least one child age 5 or younger, parents value quality of childcare over any other factor, but across income levels, cost is among the biggest challenges in finding a childcare arrangement that suits their needs.
When the unexpected happens, a sick child or a care provider who cancels, the burden of adjusting falls predictably on one parent. In different-sex couples where both the mother and father work full time, 48% say the mom would be more likely to take unexpected time off from work to care for a sick child or because of childcare issues. Another 29% say both parents would be equally likely to take time off, and 22% say the dad would be more likely to do so.
What the data means for family life
Full-time working parents account for 73% of all U.S. parents with children younger than 18, including 89% of dads and 59% of moms as of 2025, according to Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That means the pressures documented in this report are not limited to a narrow slice of American households.
The findings add a quantitative dimension to broader concerns about how families are structured today. Research into family connection, such as a recent AARP study showing only 22% of Americans have an intergenerational close friend, suggests that time scarcity inside households may be narrowing the social fabric outside them as well.
Separately, debates over how much parents invest in their children’s development extend to education: a prior survey found that most Americans believe children should learn a second language, even as school access to those programs remains limited.
The Pew report is based primarily on a survey of 2,242 U.S. working parents conducted March 2, 15, 2026, with all participants drawn from the Center’s American Trends Panel. In addition to survey data, the report includes analysis of parents in the labor force using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. The full report, including detailed breakdowns by income, race, and work arrangement, is available on the Pew Research Center website.
