Moms Are Skipping Their Own Care To Cover the Cost of Raising Kids, New Survey Finds
A new national survey of U.S. mothers suggests that family financial strain increases as kids get older, with mothers prioritizing their kids' health over their own.
If parenting little kids is the phase that feels busiest, parenting teens may be the phase that feels the most financially precarious.
In a new survey by Count on Mothers, a nonpartisan research organization, 2,818 U.S. mothers and primary female caregivers of children under 21 were asked about the financial, emotional and logistical pressures shaping family life.
The report found that when families are forced to make hard choices about care, mothers are far more likely to put off their own health or mental-health care than their child’s. It also found that parents of early teens reported the thinnest financial cushion of any age group, and that many mothers said their children needed mental-health support they struggled to access.
Moms’ own care is often the first thing to go
According to the report, 32 percent of mothers said they had delayed or gone without their own health or mental-health care in the past year because of cost, compared with fewer than 6 percent who said they had put off only their child’s care. In other words, when the budget can’t stretch far enough, moms’ own appointments are often what get dropped first.
Canadian data points in a similar direction. In a 2025 Maple report, 60 percent of caregivers in Canada said they postponed their own medical care to prioritize the needs of a dependent. That stat is about caregivers broadly, not mothers specifically, but it suggests this tradeoff is not just showing up in U.S. families.
The report also found that time is a huge part of the problem. Among mothers who said they’d had trouble caring for their own mental health, nearly half said time was the biggest obstacle, ahead of cost.
The teen years may be the most financially difficult
The survey found that mothers with children under four reported the highest day-to-day stress, which tracks with the chaos and cost of childcare, but the deepest financial fragility showed up later.
Among mothers whose youngest child was between 13 and 15, 41 percent said a single surprise $500 expense would put their family into debt. That was the highest level reported at any stage of childhood because during the early-teen years costs can pile up around food, activities, clothes, mental-health support, tech and transportation.
Many kids need mental-health support, and parents are hitting barriers
The report also found that nearly four in 10 mothers said their child needed mental, emotional or behavioural support in the past year. Among those who tried to get help, 47 percent ran into a barrier. That could mean long wait-lists, cost, limited availability or the sheer administrative grind of figuring out where to call, what is covered and how to get a child seen.
Taken together, the numbers describe a parenting reality that many families already know well: moms are carrying their own stress while trying to protect their kids from it, even when the money is tight and support is hard to access.
This article was crafted with the assistance of an AI language model. The final content was reviewed and edited by a human and reflects the editorial judgment and expertise of Today's Parent.