Holiday Stress: More Moms Than Dads Experience It, Poll Shows

ACROSS AMERICA — The holidays are billed as “the most wonderful time of year” — and for many, they are. But 1 in 6 parents surveyed in a new national poll say they’re stressed out, and 1 in 5 say that affects how much their kids enjoy the season.

And when it comes to holiday stress overload, moms take the brunt of it, with twice as many mothers as fathers saying their stress is high during the holidays, according to the respected C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.

Almost all respondents (96 percent) say the holidays are generally a happy time with holiday get-togethers, opening presents and carrying on other family traditions. But the stressors are real, with parents citing demands on their time and money, the pressures of keeping their families healthy and criticism from others about their holiday plans.

One in 5 parents surveyed say their kids have unrealistic expectations about the holidays, and 1 in 4 say their own expectations of themselves are unrealistic.

One in 5 parents surveyed say their kids have unrealistic expectations about the holidays, and 1 in 4 say their own expectations of themselves are unrealistic.

The survey also revealed how important it is for parents to get time alone during the holidays, something 71 percent of those surveyed say is important to their holiday stress management. Other stress relievers:

• Listening to music: 55 percent
• Exercise: 46 percent
• Prayer/religious services: 28 percent
• Getting help from other family members: 25 percent
• Work: 15 percent

More mothers than fathers say their stress is relieved when they get help with the extra responsibilities of the season, and more dads than moms look to their jobs for stress relief.

The holiday break is another stressor.

About 1 in 3 parents say they’ll be relieved when the holiday break is over and their kids go back to school. And 23 percent of mothers and 14 percent of fathers saying having school-age children home increases their stress. Most parents surveyed relax the household rules around:

• Screen time: 20 percent
• Bedtime: 19 percent
• Having friends over: 14 percent
• Junk food: 13 percent
• Sleepovers: 13 percent

About The Survey

The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health was conducted by Ispos Public Affairs LLC and was taken in Oct. 21 of a nationally representative sample of 2,200 adults with at least one child between the ages of 1-18 at home. Participants were selected from Ipsos’ web-enabled KnowledgePanel that closely resembles the U.S. population, and was weighted to reflect population figures from the Census Bureau. The survey completion rate was 61 percent among panel members contacted to participate. The margin of error for results presented in this report is 1-3 percent. Read more about the methodology.