Working moms are the most stressed-out people in America

If you were to quantify the most stressed-out person in America, according to the American Psychological Association’s 2014 survey, she would be a working mom who makes under $50,000 a year, between the ages of 20 to 35 years old. Suzanne Woolley from Bloomberg highlighted the survey, writing how this woman blends the demographics represented in the APA’s report — split up by age, gender, level of income, and familial status — all deemed as the most stressed-out people in America.

The most strained of these categories were millennials (people between 18 to 35 years old), women, parents with kids under 18, and low-income households. So, what are their big pain points? Across every demographic, the main cause of their worry would always come back to finances. Second to money management were concerns over the state of the economy, family responsibilities, and individual health worries.

There is good news, though; the APA reported that while people are still anxious about their money situations, Americans are less stressed overall than in past years. On a 10-point scale — 10 being most stressed, 1 being not at all — Americans averaged a 4.9 on the scale compared to 6.2 back in 2007. However, Norman Anderson, chief executive officer of the APA, said:

Stress is not going down as much for women, for people with low incomes, for young adults, or for people who are parents.

So how do the American people unwind from their stress? By trying to escape from it. The internet was a popular choice among millennials, lower-income households, women, and parents. While others preferred to veg-out in front of the TV, leading the charge on that front were the millennials again (likely binge-watching Netflix). The next popular technique people used to escape stress was to take a nap or sleep.

Perhaps there’s a better way to cope. In his Big Think interview, Dan Harris, a news anchor for Good Morning America, talks about using meditation as a way to become more self-aware, less stressed, and happier.