NEW YORK (AP) According to a Gallup poll released this week, about half of working women said they felt stressed out most of the time, compared to roughly four out of ten males.
Mothers are more likely than fathers to strongly agree that they are the default responders for unforeseen child care issues, and working women who are parents or guardians are more likely than men who are parents to say they have declined or delayed a promotion at work because of personal or family obligations. These findings suggest that the issue is partially caused by the conflicting demands of work and home.
Additionally, compared to 11% of males overall, 17% of women say they have to attend to personal or family obligations at work every day or many times a day.
Promoting women’s well-being and assisting them in becoming successful leaders in the workplace have received a lot of attention and discussion. At an event on Wednesday, Gallup managing director Ilana Ron Levey presented the research findings, which were based on four separate surveys of nearly 20,000 adults working full-time or part-time, conducted between February 2023 and October 2024. At the same time, we’re seeing record levels of stress, worry, and burnout for women.
Karen Guggenheim, the founder of the World Happiness Summit and CEO of WOHASU, the organization that organizes the event and other well-being projects, says that altering workplace culture and placing a higher priority on well-being can help with the issue.
Why must we make a decision? Why are we fostering situations where individuals must choose between succeeding at work and being the best possible parent, partner, friend, daughter, sister, or whatever. “Investing in the well-being of women is not only good business, but it is a blueprint for societal progress,” she added.
The poll also revealed that, compared to working fathers, working mothers are almost twice as likely to report that they have thought about cutting back on their hours or quitting their jobs due to child care concerns. This underscores the consequences of the nation’s child care crisis just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s second term begins.
Although Trump’s campaign website does not list child care reform as one of the administration’s objectives, he has stated that it is a necessity in this country and implied that his proposals to impose greater taxes on imports from other countries will pay for it. Vice President-elect JD Vance has blasted the Biden administration’s attempts to rein down the growing expenses of daycare facilities, claiming that doing so pushes parents back to the workforce and ignores those who would rather raise their kids at home.
According to a Department of Labor report released last month, the cost of child care is so expensive that it can surpass the rent for certain households. Vance recommended that parents rely more on family members to provide care.
However, the Gallup study found that both men and women are equally likely to report thinking about work during personal time, indicating that balancing work and family obligations can be taxing.
However, researchers also discovered that by encouraging work-life balance, employers can greatly enhance well-being: According to the survey, women who claim to be able to strike a healthy balance between their personal and professional obligations are more likely to be actively seeking a new position and to be engaged at work.
According to Kristin Barry, director of hiring analytics at Gallup, organizations may take action by fostering a culture of well-being, putting managers in a position to be the support system that employees require, and implementing well-informed policies, programs, and resources.
And since women make up about half of the workforce and the gender gap in workforce participation is the lowest in American history, Barry stated that ignoring the difficulties women face will prevent us from achieving our objectives.
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