More mothers than fathers find it challenging to meet parenting standards

Significantly more mothers (61%) than fathers (42%) find it challenging to meet societal standards of good parenting, a report on parenting has found.

The Mammies and Daddies report, launched on Wednesday by Coyne Research, reveals the stark impact of parenting in Ireland.

Among the key themes covered in the report include how parents perceive their own value and worth, how they deem the family unit to value them, and, more broadly, how they feel society values their role.

Revealingly, only a very small percentage of parents (4%) find it very easy to align with societal perceptions and pressures of being a good parent.

Almost two thirds of parents (65%) have felt the financial pinch of parenting, citing their finances having been negatively impacted since becoming a parent.

A starker finding shows that more than four in five parents (82%) are spending less than 10% of their time per week on hobbies and personal past times, which demonstrates a recurring theme of parents’ inability to find “me time” for themselves due to their parenting role in the household.

More than half of parents surveyed (55%) said that since becoming a parent their physical health has gotten worse.

Some 63% of these are women, which points to the disproportionate toll that parenthood takes on mothers.

Of all those surveyed, just 15% said their physical health has improved.

The report findings are based on a research study of 1,000 mums and dads of kids aged up to 12 carried out by Coyne Research to better understand the economic, emotional and societal impact of being a parent.

The report is being launched on Wednesday at the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLi).