Coram Family Lives and Coram Institute for Children have produced a new report that reveals the challenging issues facing families as thousands turn to the Coram Family Lives helpline for support. The Families Under Pressure: The State of Family Life report published today shows the most common issue affecting children was divorce and separation. Behaviour of children and teens was another common reason for parents contacting our support services. We received over 30,000 calls or messages to our helpline, chat and WhatsApp services with parents reporting how overwhelmed and exhausted they were.

Families across England and Wales are facing increasingly complex pressures, with many reaching crisis point before seeking help. This report highlights the most significant challenges affecting families today, particularly as pressures often increase during the summer holidays.

The most commonly reported issue affecting children was divorce and separation, featuring in 22% of helpline contacts. Parents frequently sought support with contact arrangements, difficulties reaching agreements with former partners, and managing the emotional impact of ongoing conflict. Other key concerns included:

• Behaviour of children and teenagers
• Children’s emotional and mental health, with anxiety, self-harm and depression

Concerns about children’s behaviour accounted for 38% of child-related helpline contacts in 2025, with around half involving verbal or physical aggression. These cases were more likely to involve boys aged 12–15 and families where a child was neurodivergent. Of the 3,300 contacts identifying risks of harm, 21% involved children displaying physical or threatening aggression towards parents, highlighting the growing issue of child-to-parent abuse.

Analysis of data from 2021–2025 shows that four issues have consistently remained among the most common family concerns: divorce and separation, behaviour of younger children, behaviour of teenagers, and children’s emotional and mental health. The fifth most reported issue shifted from bullying to abuse during 2024–25, suggesting changing pressures within family life.

The report also highlights the challenges faced by lone-parent families. Single mothers represented 45% of helpline contacts in 2025. Single fathers were more likely to seek support around divorce and separation, while single mothers were more likely to report concerns relating to their child’s behaviour and emotional or mental health.

Jeremy Todd, Managing Director of Coram Family Lives, said “Families under pressure need support, not blame. This report shows that many parents and carers are doing their best in increasingly complex circumstances, often reaching out only when they feel overwhelmed or close to crisis. Open-access family support, including helplines, digital advice and parenting programmes, must be recognised as essential early help infrastructure. When parents are supported earlier, children are more likely to feel safe, secure and able to thrive.”

In response, Coram Family Lives is calling for greater investment in early intervention and family support, including increased funding for universal family services, targeted support for single parents, and earlier intervention where child-to-parent aggression is identified.

Read the Families Under Pressure: The State of Family Life report