Introduction: Recently, researchers have increasingly focused on the impact of household economic hardship on parental mental health and children's development. According to Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (1979), family factors and broader environmental conditions, including parental employment and economic stability, shape children's development. Purpose: This study examined how fathers' and mothers' subjective perceptions of household economic well-being influence parenting behavior, parents' depressive tendencies, and children's psychosocial adjustment, including reduced activity levels, depressive mood, and self-esteem. Method: A questionnaire survey was conducted in 3,039 Japanese households, including 255 fathers and 2,784 mothers, paired with their children aged approximately 13 to 14 years, who were in the second year of junior high school in Japan (1,379 boys, 1,415 girls, and 245 unspecified). Parents were categorized into three groups based on their perceived economic well-being. Analyses of variance and Tukey's post hoc tests assessed group differences. Results: Fathers who perceived their household as middle-class showed the lowest levels of depressive tendencies (p< .05), while no significant differences were found in other variables. With regard to mothers, those who perceived economic affluence reported the lowest depressive symptoms (p< .01), the highest levels of child self-esteem (p < .05), and the least depressive mood (p< .05). Mothers experiencing economic strain demonstrated significantly lower parenting behavior compared to the other groups (p< .001), whereas no significant difference was observed between affluent and middle-class mothers.Conclusions: These findings indicate that parental perception of economic well-being has a more pronounced impact on mothers than on fathers, particularly in relation to psychological health, parenting practices, and children's socio-emotional adjustment. This evidence underscores the need to establish comprehensive support systems that integrate family assistance and community resources, while addressing poverty reduction, health promotion, and the enhancement of economic stability and parenting environments.