| Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have presented sharply different proposals for alleviating pressure on families. But not all forms of stress are created equal.  Photograph by Jacob Aue Sobol / Magnum The U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, recently issued an advisory on the troubled state of the nation’s parents, citing results from a survey by the American Psychological Association, conducted in 2023, in which forty-one per cent of respondents reported that “most days they are so stressed they cannot function.” In a nuanced new essay, Jessica Winter considers the many challenges facing America’s parents—including the costs of health care, child care, elder care, housing, and groceries—and draws vital distinctions between those parents who are facing crushing financial crises and others whose stressors, though still real, are more connected to ideas of parenting style and social expectations. “It’s easy to see why intensive parenting has garnered disproportionate attention in the media, on the parenting discussion boards, and in the group texts ever since Murthy published his report,” Winter notes, but she adds that “a conversation driven by matters of choice does little to address the real barriers that keep middle- and working-class families from thriving.” Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | 
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