These Are the Most Stressed Kinds of Parents

Being the parent of a teenager is just as stressful as being a single parent, at least according to a new survey. NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health teamed up to poll 2,505 Americans about their experiences with stress in the past month. The nationwide survey found that the following groups reported the most stress:

People with poor health (60% reported high stress)

Disabled people (45% reported high stress)

People with chronic illnesses (36% reported high stress)

People with income less than $20,000 (36% reported high stress)

People who experience dangerous work situations (36% reported high stress)

Single parents (35% reported high stress)

Parents of teens (35% reported high stress)

The stresses associated with single parenting seem fairly obvious: trying to juggle many responsibilities on your own. But why is raising teens particularly stressful? One reason could be the looming cost of college: problems with finances was the number two overall stressor after “too many responsibilities” on the heat map of stress.