A new survey shows households with children under age 18 are experiencing economic strain, with parents suffering from depression, burnout and hopelessness.

Capita launched the new national survey, Quarterly Insights from American Families, in partnership with YouGov. The survey will be conducted quarterly.

“This is the baseline,” said Elliot Haspel, a senior fellow with Capita. “We really want to be able to ask questions that serve as an early warning system for family well-being.”

Haspel said what stood out to him from the survey is “how much parents are facing precarity right now… I think that it tells us that families are really struggling and they really need support.”

The questions

YouGov, on behalf of Capita, surveyed 1,000 parents with children under age 18 between Feb. 2 and Feb. 16, 2026. North Carolina is one of four states that were oversampled in the survey, meaning the results are especially representative of those facing parents in those states. (The others are Colorado, Michigan and New Jersey.)

The survey consists of 69 questions (available here) designed to track families across three dimensions: stability, predictability, and quality of life. Capita defines the question underlying each dimension:

• Stability: Can families meet basic needs without falling into crisis?
• Predictability: Can they plan their lives without constant disruption?
• Quality of life: Do they have the time, health, and connection to flourish, not just survive?

Haspel explained that this survey is meant to fill the gap between surveys such as RAPID, which focuses on parents and caregivers of young children, and surveys of all Americans more broadly.

He said two-thirds of the survey questions will remain the same each time, and another third will shift based on Capita’s specific areas of interest at a given moment.

Haspel pointed out that for all Americans, life can be stressful, and parenting in particular will always come with its own stressors.

“The issue is, what are the artificial, unnecessary stressors that we put on families as a result of policy choices?” Haspel said.

The answers

One of the main findings from the survey revolves around the economic pressure that families are facing. As the Capita report puts it: “Multiple indicators point to significant and widespread financial stress.”

Here are some of those indicators:

• More than a third were worried at some point in the last year that food would run out before they had money to buy more — and almost as many actually had that happen.
• One in 5 reported skipping out on needed medical care due to costs in the last year, and 15 percent skipped filling a prescription for the same reason.
• In the last three months, 20 percent of households reported a member losing a job or having their hours cut.
• In the last month, 25 percent of respondents said they had a shift canceled, shortened, or extended with less than 24 hours’ notice. The same percentage were required to be “on call” — available without guaranteed hours — during that period.

Financial stress can be a leading driver of “toxic stress.” This compounding, long-term stress can do permanent damage to the health of parents and the development of children — and can sometimes lead to adverse childhood experiences.

Evidence shows that safe, stable and nurturing relationships with adults can protect children from the negative outcomes of adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress. But the survey suggests most parents are struggling to maintain that kind of relationship with their children.

Two-thirds of respondents said that in the last month, stress made it hard to be as patient with their children as they wanted to be. And half of parents reported feeling down, depressed or hopeless in the last two weeks.

There are several questions in the survey that pertain specifically to work and child care. Here are some related findings:

• More than 70 percent of respondents describe their job as family friendly.
• Almost two-thirds said family life is a top priority, and they want their job to fit around it.
• In the last year, 27 percent of respondents missed work or lost pay because of child care problems.
• One in 5 parents regularly supervise their children while working.

Despite the challenges presented by scheduling, about 70 percent of parents report being satisfied with their existing child care situation, whether they have children who are school age or below. And 81 percent said their communities are welcoming to families with minor children.

But 43 percent said their work schedules made it hard to keep consistent routines for their children, and that matters.

“That lack of control over one’s schedule contributes to lack of control over one’s life more broadly, and it can affect parenting relationships,” Haspel said.

As the Capita report explains:

“Job quality or schedule quality is often thought of as labor policy, it’s not thought of as a family policy,” Haspel said. “If you care about having strong, healthy families, this is a contributing factor.”

The meaning

While this first set of survey results represents the baseline of what Capita plans to measure over time, there are still significant takeaways from this early warning system.

“A lot of what we’ve been hearing around the issues with affordability, the issues with being able to navigate all the extra challenges of parenting in 2020s America is showing up in family well-being,” Haspel said.

Here’s what Capita has to say about the initial survey results:

The report goes on to point out that policies supporting the well-being of children and families are most likely to succeed if they address multiple aspects of family hardship and reach all families who are affected.

Arm, one of the world’s leading chip design firms, announced Tuesday that it is producing its own semiconductors. The move is a departure from its long-standing model of licensing intellectual property to companies that manufacture and sell chips themselves. Speaking to a live audience in San Francisco, Arm CEO Rene Haas made his pitch for how the new Arm CPU could benefit the tech industry and why this is the right time for the company to step outside of its lane and go head-to-head with other chipmakers.

“Let me be clear: We are now in a new business for ARM, and we are supplying CPUs,” Haas said, holding up one of the company’s new chips. Arm’s primary reason for moving in this direction, Haas said, is demand from customers.. But as artificial intelligence proliferates throughout the economy and demand for computing resources skyrockets, Arm is also trying to capture a sliver of the growing AI CPU market.

Arm’s in-house chip efforts had long been rumored, but now the company is finally offering a clearer picture of what it’s doing. The new chip is called the Arm AGI CPU, a nod to artificial general intelligence, an often-invoked but still hypothetical form of AI that could match human performance across domains. It’s designed to be coupled with other chips in high-performance servers inside data centers and to handle agentic AI tasks. The chip is being fabricated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, the world’s leading semiconductor foundry, and is being built using TSMC’s 3nm process.

At the chip reveal event, Arm executives emphasized the company’s history of designing energy-efficient chips and claimed that its new AGI CPU will be the world’s “most efficient agentic CPU on the market.” Compared to competitors like the latest x86 chips made by Intel and AMD, Arm says this chip will deliver better performance per watt, or the amount of energy a computer uses to operate, and could save customers billions of dollars in electricity spending.

The first major customer of Arm’s new chip is Meta, which the company says has received samples of the CPU. OpenAI, SAP, Cerebras, and Cloudflare, as well as the Korean tech firms SK Telecom and Rebellions, have also agreed to buy the chip. Arm projects its AGI CPU will reach “full production availability” in the second half of this year.

Santosh Janardhan, Meta’s head of infrastructure, appeared on stage and said he thought the Arm chip was going to “expand the [chip] industry on multiple axes.” As Meta pushes toward “personal superintelligence”—AI that will make its apps deeply personalized—Janardhan said the company needs more silicon, and is especially interested in power efficiency.

OpenAI’s vice president of science and former chief product officer, Kevin Weil, also showed up on stage alongside Haas. “One of the most common things I hear inside of OpenAI: ‘I need more compute,’” Weil said. “It’s kind of the coin of the realm.”

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Amazon senior vice president and distinguished engineer James Hamilton, and Google AI infrastructure chief Amin Vahdat appeared in pretaped video testimonials praising Arm’s new hardware. None committed to buying it, but all three tech giants already use Arm’s designs in their own processors.

Arm’s history traces back to the late 1970s, when it was known as Acorn and produced microprocessors. In the 1990s the entity changed its name to ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) and its then-CEO began licensing the firm’s chip designs to other companies. Arm, which has since dropped the all-caps “ARM” branding, saw its business boom during the mobile revolution. By the 2010s many of the world’s largest tech companies, including Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung, and Tesla, were all relying on its technology.

Security cameras can be a real money pit because you have to deal with wiring, batteries that need to be replaced on a regular basis, and membership fees that add up every month. What if I told you there’s a way to bypass all that hassle for less than $60? The TP-Link Tapo SolarCam C402 Kit accomplishes exactly that, and at full price, it’s typically a good deal. When it is on sale (like now), you can get it for about $40.

Setting up the camera is simple, and anyone can do it in under an hour. Simply launch the Tapo app on your phone, scan the code on the camera, and connect it to your home Wi-Fi. Simply screw the accompanying bracket to a wall or eave using the template and hardware provided. If you want to get more out of your solar panel, simply clip it somewhere with adequate sunshine or extend the cable up to 13 feet. Simply put the camera onto the mount and plug the panel in. There is no need to consult an electrician, and no outlet is necessary; simply screw it into place.

Sale

Tapo SolarCam 1080p Outdoor Wireless Security Camera – Battery Power with Solar, Person Detection…

• 【Endless Power from Solar Energy】The Tapo SolarCam C402 KIT harnesses the power of the sun to keep your security system running smoothly. The…
• 【Easy Wire-Free Installation – Install Anywhere】Enjoy the flexibility of wire-free installation with the Tapo SolarCam C402 KIT. Free from outlet…
• 【Prioritize What Matters】Eliminate unnecessary notifications by defining activity zones specifically monitoring for motion or people. Receive…

When daylight hits, the footage is remarkably vivid and clear, with a 125-degree field of vision. Faces can still be recognized from 20 to 30 feet away, and registration plates on your driveway read correctly. Any motion triggers will send you a message within seconds, and the app will even put a blue box around whatever moved so you can see exactly what caused the alert. The free built-in detection is really quite useful; it separates people, vehicles, and dogs from random movement, so you don’t get notified by every stray car that drives by.

At night, this camera has a unique trick up its sleeve. When movement begins, the two spotlights will instantly activate and highlight the entire area in color from roughly 30 feet out. The colors are little weaker than you might think, but they are still rather clear to read, especially when compared to the standard black and white infrared on most inexpensive devices. If you’re not utilizing the lights, simply turn them off in the app, and the device will fallback to regular infrared for times when it’s entirely dark outside. And whether you need to speak with the delivery guy or shoo away a stray animal, the two-way audio works perfectly.

The solar panel should keep the 6,400mAh battery charged after only 45 minutes of direct sunlight per day. Even if you don’t receive any sunlight, the battery should last up to 6 months, depending on your usage. Another benefit is that you won’t have to worry about storage space. Simply insert a microSD card (up to 512GB) to record private local videos. The program allows you to watch, download, and delete events directly from the timeline. If you want cloud backup, you can purchase the Tapo care plan, which includes 30 days of history and more advanced sorting. However, none of the basic alerts or live view require additional payment.

Then there’s voice control, as the Tapo app integrates perfectly with Alexa or Google Assistant, so you can simply ask your Echo Show to display the stream from the front porch, and it will appear. If you want to get even more creative, IFTTT recipes can do a variety of things, such as flashing a smart lamp when motion is detected or recording events to a spreadsheet.

Whether you’re an experienced vinyl collector or just getting started on your journey, we recommend the Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB. This excellent record player comes with great connectivity and a built-in phono preamp, and it has the backing of one of the biggest players in home and professional audio. You can currently pick up the LP120XUSB for just $398 on Amazon, a $51 markdown from the usual price.

Courtesy of Audio Technica

The AT-LP120XUSB features basically everything you could want from a modern, upgraded turntable. The built-in phono preamp lets you easily swap the turntable from your headphones to your speakers without any extra steps or hardware, or you can disable it if you’d prefer to use an existing dedicated preamp. The direct-drive motor should be longer lasting and more consistent than belt-driven options, while handling 33⅓-, 45-, and 78-rpm vinyl.

It also features adjustable dynamic anti-skate control, an S-shaped tonearm for better balance, and quartz speed lock for perfect playback. If you don’t like the components, Audio-Technica turntables are impressively modular, so you can swap out parts and tweak to get everything dialed in for your favorite album. The included cartridge is a Dual-Magnet AT-VM95E, a great starting point for any listener, with the option to upgrade to any of the other VM95 series cartridges.

One feature that you aren’t likely to find on every turntable is a USB connection. While it might seem odd at first, this important plug lets you pipe the audio from your favorite records to your computer, letting you back them up for archival purposes, or taking that special live album that isn’t on streaming services with you to work. Of course it has traditional RCA jacks as well for hooking it up to the rest of your home audio system, if you already have a set of bookshelf speakers or a high-end headset you prefer.

If you’re sold on the Audio-Technica LP120X, you can swing by Amazon to grab it for a discounted $398, or check out our complete guide to the best turntables for even more great options. We also have an entire guide dedicated to the best audiophile gear, so make sure to check that out if you’re looking for some great kit to match your new turntable.

A massive heat wave has broken heat records in 14 states, including Arizona and California, reaching up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas. Now it’s creeping eastward, according to the National Weather Service.

The heat wave is continuing its journey through the Midwestern United States and is projected to affect anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of the 48 mainland states, National Weather Service meteorologist Gregg Gallina told The Associated Press. The highest temperatures recorded today are in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas — what the National Weather Service refers to as the Southern Rockies region. But the hot air is on the move.

The reason these high temperatures persist is the “heat dome” phenomenon, in which high pressure prevents hot air from rising, trapping it in a bubble above a region. As the dome of pressure moves, so too does the hot air — and right now, it’s barreling east.

The states that will be smothered by the heat dome in the coming days include those in the Southern and Central Plains regions. This means residents of Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska can expect to sweat as the heat blankets them on its eastbound journey.

What the heat dome means for climate change and our health

According to Climate Central, the US has experienced rising blackout rates over the past 20 years, largely due to weather-related issues and an aging electrical grid.

As of August 2025, the US Environmental Protection Agency states that heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the US. The World Health Organization reports that between 2000 and 2019, about 489,000 heat-related deaths occurred each year. 

Fortunately, humidity levels are not as high during a summer heat wave. As humidity can contribute to dehydration, body strain and breathing difficulties, lower humidity makes this heat dome somewhat less dangerous for workers in affected areas.

The World Weather Attribution, an initiative formed by international climate change researchers and climate scientists, determined that the heat dome would be “virtually impossible without human-induced climate change.”

In a world where weather events like these cease to be impossibilities, you’ll want to prepare for future heat waves properly. Here’s how to stay safe during the heat dome.

How to prepare for the heat dome before it hits your state

There’s nothing you can do to beat the heat outside, aside from following heat safety best practices. You’ll just need to stay hydrated, wear breathable, light-colored clothing and wait out the potentially dangerous heat dome, which is expected to dissipate by the end of next week when April begins. But you can do things to batten down the hatches before the sweltering heat reaches your home.

Even if you don’t have much prep time, a couple of small items can make your home safer (and far more comfortable). Cooling towels, portable fans and countertop ice makers are must-haves during a heat wave, especially if you aren’t looking to crank the thermostat down and spend a pretty penny.

Heat waves are also extremely costly due to the sheer amount of energy used — it’s expensive to stay cool. Depending on your living situation, though, you might want to invest in heat pump installation. These HVAC system additions are extremely energy efficient, which means you can keep more money in your pocket while beating the heat.

During the middle of the heat wave, when everyone has their AC running, there’s also the potential for an early brownout (a temporary drop in electrical voltage, causing lighting to dim) or even a blackout (a complete loss of power). It’s common to feel helpless during power outages, but you can get ahead of the curve by preparing a summer blackout kit with portable chargers and alternative light sources before the heat wave hits.

Even if the historic heat wave doesn’t hit your home, these tips will help you prepare as the summer season bears down on the US in a couple of months.