Carrying More at Home Than Your Partner? How the Mental Load Impacts Gender Equality

The mental load is an issue that affects many mothers and women, resulting in burnout, stress, and anxiety. It regularly comes up as a key challenge for working mothers.  In this episode, I look at what exactly is the mental load and some of it's features. It is invisible and will look different for everyone; as I share, it changes daily. Rather than giving you clear strategies (i.e. outsourcing) for managing the mental load, I look at the impacts and influences of the mental load to bring a new perspective into the conversation.  I also share the idea of a MVT - Minimum Viable Task - the minimum tasks you need to do for your household to function and what you and your partner need to do for this to be a reality.  Women spend nine hours a week more than men on unpaid work and care than men. This has impacts on women's mental health, and wellbeing and it has a ripple effect on organisations and gender equality. When we talk about the mental load, it’s often referred to as a female topic, but this just highlights the issue and influence it has on gender equality. I am of the view that a contributing factor to gender equality is how well people share the mental load at home. Organisations also have a role to play in supporting the mental load for both working parents through flexible work and hybrid work approaches and I discuss the influence of this relating to gender equality. I also share some key observations and tips regarding mental load and encourage you to download the free mental load checklist to help you review the mental load between you and your partner.  Download the free resource '3 steps to sharing the mental load'.    Connect with Carina at Working Mumma If you are looking for community, resources, and support as a working mum, check out the Working Mumma Village digital membership workingmumma.com.au/working-mumma-village.  As always, I'd like to connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/working-mumma  or Instagram @workingmummacommunity and check out the Working Mumma website workingmumma.com.au