Living in a hurried world. The impact on infant and child mental health

The Western world is hurried. Families spend their days trying to balance many responsibilities, resulting in parents experiencing ‘not enough time’ to engage with children, and children experiencing ‘accelerated childhoods’. Children's early years are constructed and governed by the clock, with a constant hustle between prescribed experiences, curricular expectations and time constraints. Consequently, educators view their time with children as a checklist of tasks that need to be completed, rather than a mutually enjoyable opportunity to co-construct meaning with one another. This article explores literature from a variety of lenses spanning from the early 2000s to the current day (2026). Framed by Vygotsky's social cultural lens and Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, this narrative reviews the current state of Canadian families and the impact of our ‘hurried’ lives on children's mental health, that of their parents, and educators. Recommendations are made on how to address the hurried world we live in, including resisting the constructs of time, embracing slow movements and ‘slow pedagogy’, and micro and macro level policy changes.