Three years of California parent voices show families struggle to meet basic needs and experience emotional distress as a result
Ever since the RAPID California Voices project started in 2022, we have been asking parents and caregivers of young children in California about their family’s economic circumstances, well-being, use of child care, and more. This multi-year, statewide survey aims to understand the experiences of California families with children under age 6, lift up parent voices, and promote real-time data-informed policies and programs that support families.
RAPID asks parents and caregivers of young children questions about their economic circumstances. This includes asking parents about material hardship. RAPID measures material hardship as difficulty in the last month paying for basic needs, including food, housing, utilities, child care, and healthcare. Consistent access to basic needs is key to the stable home environment and economic well-being that supports overall family well-being and the healthy development of young children.
In this fact sheet, we present what we’ve learned about families’ access to basic needs and how it relates to parent and child well-being, using data gathered between November 2022 and July 2025 from California parents of children under age 6. To deepen our understanding of California families’ experiences, we also look at differences across income levels and geographic locations.
Basic needs are out of reach for a large number of California families with young children
Data from the three years of RAPID-California surveys show material hardship is persistent for a large number of families with young children.
From November 2022 to July 2025, more than half (56%) of California families surveyed, on average, reported difficulty affording one or more basic needs. On average over the past three years, utilities (34%), followed by housing (29%), food (25%), healthcare (15%), and child care (15%) have been the most difficult basics to afford.
The percentage of families experiencing material hardship in July 2025 is one of the highest levels recorded since RAPID began collecting data in California in 2022.
In July 2025, about three in four (73%) families with young children surveyed reported difficulty in the past month meeting one or more basic needs. The most common area of hardship was utilities (53%), followed by healthcare (42%), housing (38%), food (37%), and child care (14%).
California parents reporting one or more material hardship
Data note: We apply a common smoothing method to plot a trend line that approximates the overall pattern of the data while reducing short-term fluctuations. As such, the trend line provides an overall view of the data and is not intended to match the specific numbers cited in the narrative.
California parents reporting material hardship by source
Data note: We apply a common smoothing method to plot a trend line that approximates the overall pattern of the data while reducing short-term fluctuations. As such, the trend line provides an overall view of the data and is not intended to match the specific numbers cited in the narrative.
Families experiencing material hardship face difficult trade-offs when trying to meet basic needs. Parents may be setting aside utility bills to pay for other basic needs, like rent and food. Missing a rent payment can lead to eviction, and lack of food is an immediate crisis. As a result, it is not surprising that a significant percentage of families struggling to meet basic needs specifically have difficulty paying for utilities.
We see notable differences in material hardship across geographic locations (rural areas and urban/suburban areas). Families living in rural areas of California faced particular challenges meeting basic needs (93%), compared to families living in urban/suburban areas (72%).
Additionally, the July 2025 data show middle-income (86%) and lower-income (71%) families bear a heavier load of material hardship compared to higher-income (50%) families.* Although the percentages differ across household income levels, the fact that a substantial percentage of parents across all household income levels report material hardship points to the presence of broad economic challenges that run across all income levels.
In responses to open-ended questions in June 2025 and July 2025, parents wrote about their challenges managing the cost of food, household goods, and child care, and the stress and worry this caused, as indicated by the quotes in this fact sheet.
“Being able to make my funds last and be able to have the necessities [are my biggest concerns].” Parent in Los Angeles County
“High food cost and high electricity bills.” Parent in Yuba County
“Cost of living in California and not being able to move due to interest rates. Rising costs of child care, groceries, etc.” Parent in San Diego County
“Making enough money for the bills [is my biggest concern].” Parent in Ventura County
“[My biggest concern is] our long-term financial outlook. I’m concerned the economy is going to get run into the ground. My husband and I will lose our tech jobs and everything we worked to save will be lost.” Parent in San Diego County
“We have child care spots but it’s $40K annually per child. Hard to be able to afford a babysitter on top of that. Hard to find last-minute care if our child is ill and needs to stay home.” Parent in San Francisco County
“I’m fearful for future medical coverage and food. We have Medi-Cal and food stamps. They might get cut because the Big Beautiful Bill passed.” Parent in San Bernardino County
“Housing costs are crazy here. Then the areas with better schools only get more expensive.” Parent in San Diego County
“After the pandemic, I feel like the San Francisco area hasn’t recovered from the economic recession. Everything gets more and more expensive but our income stays the same. Lately people are talking about how AI will replace a lot of jobs. I am not familiar with that but it seems like something to worry about in the future.” Parent in San Mateo County
“Thinking about if we can afford to stay in the Bay Area. If we will be able to purchase a home someday?” Parent in San Mateo County
“Finding affordable daycare, and not knowing the effects that the smoke damage can cause us in the future [are my biggest concerns].” Parent in Los Angeles County
*RAPID measures income levels based on the federal poverty level (FPL). Lower-income households are those below 200% of the FPL, middle-income households fall between 200% and 400% of the FPL, and higher-income households are above 400% of the FPL.
A substantial majority of California parents of young children experience emotional distress
RAPID surveys ask parents about their emotional well-being, which we measure as a composite of four emotional distress experiences: stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.*
RAPID data from November 2022 to July 2025 show emotional distress is widespread and persistent; on average, 80% of California parents of young children surveyed experienced emotional distress. The most prevalent experience of emotional distress, on average, was anxiety (68%), followed by stress (58%), depression (57%), and loneliness (43%).
In July 2025, nearly nine in ten (89%) California parents of young children surveyed reported emotional distress. Of these parents, anxiety (80%) was the most prevalent experience, followed by depression (75%), stress (69%), and loneliness (65%).
California parents reporting emotional distress
Data note: We apply a common smoothing method to plot a trend line that approximates the overall pattern of the data while reducing short-term fluctuations. As such, the trend line provides an overall view of the data and is not intended to match the specific numbers cited in the narrative.
The data show high percentages of parents across household income levels and geographic locations experienced emotional distress. While the majority of California parents reported emotional distress in July 2025, more middle-income parents experienced emotional distress (95%), compared to lower-income parents (87%) and higher-income parents (82%). A larger proportion of families living in rural areas experienced emotional distress (97%), compared to families living in urban/suburban areas (89%).
In responses to open-ended questions, parents wrote that increased costs and financial debt made them feel stressed and forced them to make difficult choices to meet their family’s needs. As indicated by the quotes in this fact sheet, parents also had fears about safety, immigration policy changes, cuts to public programs, and the challenges of navigating high costs of living and economic instability.
“The bills are piling. Constantly having to decide between my kid’s asthma medicines and electric bills due to the wildfire. Paying so much for child care that closes constantly.” Parent in Sacramento County
“My own health wavers from time to time so making sure my child is cared for while I’m struggling is a concern.” Parent in Sutter County
“I’m the first generation born in the U.S. and I’m teaching my daughter Spanish. With ICE targeting brown people, I’m scared for my safety, the safety of my daughter, family, and friends.” Parent in Santa Cruz County
“Our biggest challenge is just making it day-to-day without becoming too stressed or overwhelmed. Life with two young children feels like a constant balance of drop-offs and lunches and sicknesses and it feels like we’re barely cutting it every day. We have no family in the area to help, and even when they’re able to visit, our parents are not healthy enough to help. Throw in a recent death in the family, plus the state of our country, and it all feels hard. We want to create a simple, comfortable family life for our children, but right now it feels stressed and chaotic. We’d also love to build a community for us/them, but we don’t have time and no one else does either.” Parent in San Mateo County
“Health and safety at school and in the community.” Parent in Santa Clara County
*RAPID measures anxiety by asking parents to select how often they have been bothered by “feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge” or “not being able to stop or control worrying” in the past month. RAPID measures depression by asking parents to select how often they have been bothered by “little interest or pleasure in doing things” or “feeling down, depressed, or hopeless” in the past month. RAPID measures loneliness by asking parents to select how often they felt lonely in the past month. RAPID measures stress by asking parents to select how often they felt stress in the past month.
Many California parents of young children report that their young children experience emotional distress
We also ask parents about their children’s behavior in the past month and measure child emotional well-being as a composite of two experiences: externalized emotional distress (e.g., fussiness) and internalized emotional distress (e.g., fearfulness).*
Across the three-year span of the RAPID-California project, we consistently see high percentages of parents reporting emotional distress in their young children. On average, between November 2022 to July 2025, 74% of parents surveyed reported signs of emotional distress in their children. Of these parents, 66% reported externalized emotional distress in their children and 44% reported internalized distress in their children.
In July 2025, more than two in three (67%) California parents surveyed reported emotional distress in their young children. Of these parents, 56% said their children had externalized emotional distress and 51% had internalized distress.
California parents reporting emotional distress in their children
Data note: We apply a common smoothing method to plot a trend line that approximates the overall pattern of the data while reducing short-term fluctuations. As such, the trend line provides an overall view of the data and is not intended to match the specific numbers cited in the narrative.
While the percentage of families reporting emotional distress in their children in July 2025 (67%) is lower than the three-year average (74%), the fact that more than two in three parents still reported emotional distress in their children shows that implementing policies and programs to support overall family and child well-being remains a critical priority.
The data show emotional distress in children is prevalent across household income levels and geographic locations. In July 2025, high percentages of parents across income levels reported emotional distress in their children: middle-income families (69%), higher-income families (67%), and lower-income families (64%). Children’s emotional distress was a particular challenge for families living in rural areas (82%), as compared to families living in urban/suburban areas (67%).
RAPID has found that experiences of economic hardship are associated with higher rates of emotional distress in parents. Further, parents’ experiences of hardship and emotional distress have ripple effects that negatively affect the emotional well-being and development of their young children.
This finding is the result of a collaboration with a team led by Dr. Abbie Raikes at the University of Nebraska Medical Center that developed the Kidsights Measurement Tool, a survey-based measure that assesses how young children’s development is progressing, in terms of cognitive, motor, language, and social-emotional milestones. When measured along with factors such as income, education, geography, and other family characteristics, Kidsights results can be used to report on overall development for groups of children and assist public health and policy decision-making.
To assess how young children are developing, we included the Kidsights tool as part of the RAPID monthly surveys to parents in July 2023 and August 2023.
After accounting for the effects of families’ income levels, races and ethnicities, geographic locations, and structures (single parent and dual parent), our analysis found that household experiences of material hardship are significantly associated with decreases in measures of early development. In other words, material hardship negatively affects early child development.
The data show that, on average, young children in families that consistently met their basic needs had higher developmental scores and were developmentally ahead of their peers in the same age group who did not have basic needs met. Conversely, young children in families that experienced material hardship had lower early childhood developmental scores than those who did not experience material hardship, indicating that young children in these families were, on average, developmentally behind compared to their peers in the same age group who did not experience material hardship.
Additionally, as parents’ experiences of material hardship increased, their children’s developmental scores decreased, again showing that material hardship negatively affected child development.
Together, the RAPID and Kidsights data suggest that helping parents meet basic needs protects families from the ripple effects of material hardship, which then supports parent and child emotional well-being and, in turn, creates the conditions for children’s healthy development.
“Maintaining a job is near impossible with the unpredictability of small children, and the commute times are a big reason why, as daycare has cut-off times for drop-off and pick-up.” Parent in Orange County
“Just enjoying our kids and watching them grow up. I’m just trying to give them a normal childhood as much as possible. I do not want them to know about the political climate right now. That there are people that hate them without even knowing them. Sad times right now.” Parent in Riverside County
“I wish things weren’t so financially difficult in this state. I have my master’s degree but even with that, I still struggle financially and worry how the future will be for my kids.” Parent in Los Angeles County
“All the after effects of the fire— financial, mental health, housing instability, the general depression in the whole community.” Parent in Los Angeles County
“The cost of rent is out of control. We’re constantly stressed about housing. Even modest apartments are eating up most of our income, and we’re afraid of getting priced out of the area.” Parent San Joaquin County
*RAPID measures child emotional well-being using items from the Child Behavior Checklist. Parents reported how often the phrases “fussy or defiant” and “fearful or anxious” reflected their view of their child’s behavior in the past month, even if other people might not agree.
California parents of young children say policies, programs, and supports help them meet basic needs
That so many California families are experiencing both material hardship and emotional distress is concerning, as analysis of the national RAPID survey data has consistently found evidence of a chain reaction of hardship. In the chain reaction, as parents’ experiences of material hardship increase, they also experience more emotional distress, which is associated with parents reporting increased emotional distress among their young children.
RAPID data have shown that policy interventions are strongly connected to the levels of material hardship and emotional distress in parents and young children. When policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit, food assistance, and child care supports were in place, parents reported lower material hardship and lower emotional distress. Because parents’ emotional well-being cascades to their children, parents also reported their children experienced lower emotional distress. As the policies expired and cost of living expenses increased, family material hardship and parent and child emotional distress rose sharply, once again leaving many families struggling. This shows the potential of national, state, and community policies to support families’ access to basic needs and prevent the chain reaction of hardship.
In their responses to RAPID’s open-ended survey questions, California parents wrote about how important family support policies are in meeting basic needs, as indicated by the quotes in this fact sheet. These data and caregiver voices can inform targeted policies and programs that improve family well-being and strengthen communities.
“People who need help the most are not able to get it. All the available programs benefit just the same group of people and there is no help available.” Parent in Los Angeles County
“We have a disabled child and I am very concerned about Medicaid and Medicare cuts which will impact her and the services she receives directly. This is a major cause of concern for us.” Parent in San Francisco County
“I go to the food bank once a week to help out with grocery costs.” Parent in Sonoma County
“Being able to have a reliable daycare is huge. The support it provides to single parents has the biggest impact.” Parent in Los Angeles County
“There should be a policy that reduces the rental costs of houses.” Parent in Santa Clara County
“We have very little help. We are able to get free diapers but don’t qualify for any other programs even though we are severely impacted.” Parent in Los Angeles County
“[My biggest concern is] finding programs that help low-income families, otherwise we would really be struggling to survive out here.” Parent in San Diego County
“SNAP (food stamps) is a lifesaver, and the local food pantry.” Parent in Los Angeles County
Conclusion
RAPID data show that California parents of young children across all household income levels and geographic locations are facing significant economic challenges that undermine family well-being and children’s development.
Over the past three years of the RAPID California Voices project, parents of children under age 6 have consistently reported that basic needs are hard to meet and out of reach. These trends are worsening and in July 2025 reached one of the highest levels since the study began in 2022. Economic uncertainty and pressures, including the rising costs of basic needs, are contributing to significant financial strain. These economic difficulties are linked to high levels of emotional distress in parents and children and form a chain reaction of hardship that affects children’s development.
Emotional well-being and economic stability are essential for providing supportive, responsive caregiving, which is core to the positive and healthy development of young children. RAPID data show that when policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit, food assistance, and child care supports were in place, families reported less material hardship and improved family well-being and child development. When the supports were withdrawn, parents reported higher material hardship and higher emotional distress.
Parents’ emotional well-being, which is connected to their experiences of material hardship, affects their children who, in turn, experience higher emotional distress and lower development. This points to the effectiveness of policies that alleviate the chain reaction of hardship in support of positive and healthy early child development. It shows that these policies play a critical role in family well-being and are essential in helping families make ends meet, access their basic needs, and support their emotional well-being.
Policymakers in California can once again promote and adopt national, state, and community policies and programs to support families with young children. RAPID data show that these supports, implemented during the pandemic, led to improved family well-being and child development. Reinstating and advancing these policies would help reduce material hardship and increase emotional well-being in both parents and children.
Given the persistence and increase of material hardship among California families, continued investment in proven supports is essential to help families meet basic needs and support their children’s health and development. Together with the insights parents shared in their responses to RAPID’s open-ended questions, these data can inform policies and programs to better support California’s youngest children and their families.
