Being a parent today is harder than it was in the 1970s or 1980s, according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 70% of the US public says it is more difficult to be a mother today than it was 20-30 years ago; 60% say the same about being a father.

Nearly four in ten (38%) listed societal factors when asked in open-ended format to name the biggest challenge for parents today: Among the top concerns are drugs and alcohol, peer pressure, and the impact of television and other media.

More than half (56%) say mothers are doing a worse job today than mothers 20-30 years ago; nearly half (47%) say fathers are doing a worse job than fathers did 20-30 years ago.

The challenges facing parents today differ according to the ages of their children:

• 17% of parents whose kids are all over age 18 say drugs and alcohol are the biggest challenge in raising children today.
• Only 4% of parents of younger children say so, and even among those with teenage children (ages 13-18) just 5% cite drugs or alcohol as the biggest challenge today.
• The challenges of balancing work and family life and finding enough time to spend with children are bigger issues for parents with children age 18 and younger than they are for parents whose kids are grown (14% vs. 6%).

Religious views and practices influence opinions about parenting:

• Among parents of children ages 18 and younger, 42% who attend religious services at least once a week cite societal factors as the biggest challenge in raising kids today, compared with 29% of those who seldom or never attend church.
• Parents who attend services at least weekly are much more likely to mention television and other media as the biggest parenting challenges (10% vs. 3%).

Men and women express similar views about the difficulty of being a mother or father today compared with the past. However, men’s opinions about the difficulty of being a father today vary by age.

Fully 70% of men ages 50-64 say being a father is more difficult today, compared with 59% of men ages 30-49, and just 46% of men under age 30.

Fathers get higher grades than mothers (especially from women):

• Overall, 47% of Americans say fathers of children under the age of 18 are now doing a worse job as parents than fathers did 20-30 years ago; this compares with 56% who say mothers are doing a worse job.
• About one-in-five (21%) say today’s fathers are doing a better job compared with fathers a generation ago; far fewer (9%) say that today’s mothers are doing a better job than their predecessors 20-30 years ago. 

Most women (71%) say it is more difficult to be a mother today than it was 20-30 years ago. But in Pew’s 1997 motherhood survey, an even greater percentage of women expressed that view (81%).

Older women are more likely to say today’s mothers are doing a worse job, and they are also more likely to believe the job has become more difficult:

• Some eight in ten women ages 50-64 (81%) say it is harder to be a mother today than it was 20-30 years ago.
• That compares with 58% of women under age 30, 70% of women ages 30-49, and 73% of women ages 65 and older.

Additional findings from the Pew study are available here.