A national survey of parents with infants and toddlers highlights a clear pattern:1 in 2025, families and babies were
rattled by mounting economic strain and distress, and conditions only got tougher as the year went on.
In 2025, families faced growing hardship paying for necessities like food and housing, alongside elevated levels of
parental emotional distress and rising concerns about children’s behavior and development. These challenges were
most acute for low-income families who account for 3.8 million of the 11 million infants and toddlers2 across the
United States, families of color and families in rural areas.
During the first three years of life, children’s development is at its most sensitive to changes in environments and
relationships. Babies’ well-being is powerfully influenced by supportive relationships with trusted adults and access
to critical resources such as food, housing, health care and child care.3 Experiences of stress – especially the chronic,
unrelenting stress associated with experiencing economic hardship – can impact babies, the family and their
relationships with each other. Without the bu er of responsive relationships, household-level stress can get “under
the skin” and alter a young child’s brain development, which in turn can lead to lifelong di culties with mental health,
learning and well-being.4
These patterns highlight the need for immediate policy attention. In 2026 and beyond, babies and families
deserve better.
Key Findings: A Year of Increasing Challenges for Babies and Families
- Economic Well-Being: Families increasingly struggled to a ord the basics in 2025, especially utilities and food.
Parents attribute this, in part, to rising costs and stagnant wages. By the end of 2025, over half of families with
infants and toddlers (53%) reported having a hard time paying for basic material needs like food and housing, 23
percentage points higher than the 2021 average during the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges were especially
concentrated among families living in poverty, in rural areas and Black and Latine families. - Emotional Well-Being: Over the course of 2025, the rate of parents experiencing elevated anxiety and depression
symptoms rose from 21% to 29% and 14% to 25%, respectively. Parents reported increasing concerns about their
children’s learning and development, which rose from 46% in January to 64% in November. Material hardship,
parent emotional distress and child development concerns were all closely associated, with both material hardship
and parent distress playing strong independent roles in parents’ concerns for their children’s development. - Resilience Despite Challenges: Despite economic and emotional hardship, parents worked to provide stability and
strong relationships to their children, important practices that bu er the negative e ects of stress on children’s
development. Between January and June 2025, nearly half (46%) of parents reported feeling hopeful about the
future most of the time. This rate declined to 33% of parents in the second half of 2025. Most parents (97%)
reported consistent or increased quality time with their child over the past month. Over half of parents (55%)
felt they could handle things well and 61% felt supported when they felt overwhelmed and stressed. Parents
reported receiving public benefits at much lower rates than national averages (19% reported receiving benefits),
but, in open-ended responses, many highlighted the importance of those supportive policies for their families’
well-being.