U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A. released an important new advisory titled “Parents Under Pressure: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents.” The advisory frames the issues facing parents and caregivers today as an urgent matter of public health—discussing common struggles and stressors, the importance of mental health support, and how structural measures including work-family policies can support parents’ mental, physical, and economic wellbeing.
In the advisory, Dr. Murthy shares insightful data on the connection between parental mental health and children and families’ abilities to thrive, and notes that systemic factors like racism, sexism, income level, and other social determinants play a major role in mental health and wellbeing. The advisory also provides several recommendations to build a more supportive society for parents, including investing in care infrastructure, guaranteeing affordable and high-quality childcare and healthcare, and the establishment of national paid family and medical leave and paid sick time programs.
This advisory should serve as a wake-up call for our country’s elected officials: paid family and medical leave and paid sick time are essential, fundamental rights that are critical for the health and well-being of families, and it is past time for action at the national level. As we continue to call for federal solutions, such as the FAMILY Act and Healthy Families Act, we are continuing to ensure new work-family protections at the state and local level, where we have seen tremendous progress on both the paid sick time and paid family and medical leave fronts.
Access to paid sick days and paid family and medical leave (which can be used to take longer-term leave from work to care for oneself or a loved one) are critical to ensuring parents aren’t forced to choose between their or their family’s economic security and their health and caregiving needs.
We have long highlighted the health case for both paid family and medical leave and paid sick time, and while we are pleased to see continued progress in the states, we need a federal program to extend these essential rights to all workers.
