Series

Modern parenting

Screens. Social media. Constant scheduling. Somewhere along the line, raising children got harder. We explore how childhood has changed, and why parents are more exhausted than ever.

4 stories

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Are the parents all right? Why raising children feels harder than ever

Australia’s largest survey of parents shows almost 60 per cent are in a state of moderate to high psychological distress. We asked the experts to explain why – and how to help them.

  • August 16, 2026
  • Wendy Tuohy

‘I feel like I’m the police’: The trials and tribulations of raising teenagers

Screens and social media have upended how our kids grow up, and how we raise them. They make parenting an often bewildering experience, even if the fundamentals haven’t changed.

  • August 30, 2026
  • Benjamin Preiss

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‘They are much better parents than us’: How modern mums and dads rise to the challenge

Becoming a parent was once the norm. Now it’s more of a choice, and with that choice comes pressure to get the most out of it, to be present, to be the best parents possible.

  • Liam Mannix

The ‘failure to launch’ myth: Why adult children living at home has become the new normal

In part four of our series on the complex landscape of modern parenting, midlife parents explore how supporting adult children in their 20s looks radically different from the way they were raised.

  • Wendy Tuohy

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