Study: Single Parents, Especially Women, Are Not Getting Enough Sleep
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A good night's rest is essential when it comes to health and well being, but single parents, especially, women are just not getting enough ZZZZ's, according to a U.S. government study. They even have difficulty falling asleep, and once they do, they often can't stay asleep.
A survey of households with no children, and households with children under 18 was done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Their report released in January, and based on data from 2013 and 2014, shows single parents are at a real disadvantage when it comes to sleep.
According to the data, more than 42% of single adults with children under 18 are more likely to get less than 7 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, compared with about 30% of adults without kids and in two-parent families.
The results were even worse for women in single-parent households. More than 43% of the women surveyed were sleep-deprived, compared to about 37% of the men.
Overall, women across all family types were more likely than men to be sleep-deprived, according to the study.
Kathryn Lee, a sleep researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, told U.S. News and World Report the findings aren't surprising.
"Women tend to make family, and especially their children, a priority in life -- day and night, 24/7," she said.
Poor sleep is associated with a long list of health risks including diabetes, heart disease, mental health issues, depression, even driving and workplace accidents.
"Nearly one-third of U.S. adults do not meet the recommendations of getting at least 7 hours of sleep daily," said researchers.
This is the first time the NCHS and the CDC have used gender and family type as criteria to assess adults' sleep habits.
CBSSF.com writer, producer Jan Mabry is also executive producer and host of The Bronze Report. She lives in Northern California. Follow her on Twitter @janmabr.