This Labor Day, Viewers Want to See Relatable Challenges With Jobs, Money, and Work-Family Stress

This year, Labor Day comes at a challenging time for United States workers. Millions face stresses related to jobs and money, and they are often doing so while managing care for children, loved ones, or themselves.

Working people and their families are rarely represented authentically in TV and film. New research finds that audiences seek visibility, understanding, and solutions in the media they consume.

We’re excited to launch a new resource guide for entertainment-industry storytellers that offers tips for crafting stories about work, finances, and care that reflect viewers’ real lives. This work is grounded in research we commissioned—a survey of 1,310 TV and film viewers conducted by MarketCast this spring—and additional data on the experiences of American workers and consumers.

The Backdrop: Job and Financial Anxieties are High

According to the American Psychological Association’s 2025 Work in America survey, 89 percent of workers reported that their company or organization underwent changes in the last year. Whether workers perceive these changes as positive or negative varies considerably. Unsurprisingly, morale is higher among those who can work in their preferred environment, feel more productive than last year, and are in upper-level positions. People in middle-level, front-line, and individual-contributor jobs are more likely to report negative changes, and workers with disabilities face additional challenges.

One respondent to the New America/MarketCast survey wrote:

“I would like more television shows with work experiences regarding [the] toxic culture of workaholicism and constant credentialism and upskilling. Companies expect you to learn new things on your own time, which essentially adds additional work hours and causes worker burnout. If you don't comply, you are laid off in places with at-will employment.”

-Man, age 25-39

Additionally, government data finds that it’s increasingly difficult to find and keep jobs at all. Trends in long-term unemployment, young people’s ability to find their first job, and employment rates for mothers are all concerning.

As expected, uncertainty across American workplaces is accompanied by high financial anxiety. Consumer sentiment—a measure of people’s perception of the economy and their own financial circumstances—has declined significantly over the past year. In a February 2025 survey, more than one in three people said they had to dip into emergency savings at least once in the past year. Nearly seven in ten Americans say that financial uncertainty has made them feel depressed and anxious, and the rates are even higher among Gen Z adults and Millennials.

Another respondent wrote:

“I’d be interested to see how middle-class families are able to work [and] afford housing, groceries and childcare while both parents work full time. With the way the economy is, it’s near impossible to afford childcare for one child, let alone multiple, when daycare prices are as much, if not more, [than] a full month’s rent…”

-Woman 25-39

The Opportunity: On-Screen Storytelling

Entertainment media holds up a mirror that helps validate viewers’ lives and experiences, offers insights into others, contextualizes the realities that people face, and can offer individual- and systems-level options for addressing these challenges.

In the New America/MarketCast survey of streaming viewers, 79 percent said they relate to work-related concerns, such as job loss, managing shift or gig jobs, or needing flexibility for health or care. Seventy-four percent said they relate to concerns about financial needs like making ends meet, having enough money to cover expenses, or saving for the future.

When we proposed specific work-related story themes to viewers, they said that examples of people standing up for themselves and others in workplaces and characters managing gig work or other non-standard arrangements and still making ends meet would be unique and interesting. The vast majority (86 percent) are interested in stories featuring supportive bosses, co-workers, and workplace policies that help characters address pay, work, and family caregiving needs. Strong majorities also want to see stories incorporating workplace leave for various caregiving reasons. One New America/MarketCast survey respondent explained:

“[Caregiving under pressure at work] is such a difficult dynamic as it is, let alone if you have a job that isn’t understanding of your situation. I would love to see how it could be done and honor those who do it.”

-Woman 25-39

Engaging, relatable, insightful stories inspire audiences to take action—87 percent say that a show or film with a work, family, or care theme prompted them to feel, think, or behave differently. These stories also attract viewers, leading to a larger and more engaged audience for creatives’ work and media companies’ market share.

The Value: Narratives Drive Culture and Policy

Watching characters on screen self-advocate at work, manage financial stress, and navigate work and care tensions can shift attitudes and create change. At an individual level, viewers say that these depictions have taught them how to approach complex issues in their own lives or shifted their perspective on a cultural problem that doesn’t affect them.

Simultaneously, media can help audiences envision and work toward policies that offer more job and financial stability for everyone, including parents and caregivers. Across partisan differences, people in the United States—and television audiences—believe that working people who are parenting or caregiving need more financial and workplace support. As one survey respondent put it:

“…People in Washington will talk about things that need to be fixed, but [it] never is. If [there] was a show that continually spoke about what real people were facing, it could create a movement for change.”

-Woman 45-54

In this spirit, we offer guidance for storytelling that centers viewers’ real-world experiences and suggests avenues for engaging, authentic, and relatable stories that can start cultural conversations.