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Having it all or doing it all

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Having it all or doing it all

The real cost of the domestic mental load on working parents

Letter from Kath Clarke, CEO, BlckBx

Despite women taking a considerably more active role in the workforce over the past two decades, frustratingly society and business still view women as the caregiver and men as the breadwinner. 

 

This institutional hangover is forcing families to make decisions outside of what perhaps parents would choose for themselves and each other. With the mounting financial pressures of childcare and inflation, sadly we can expect to see more women feeling the push to shelve their career. 

 

Businesses are 10 steps ahead of the government in what they can offer working parents. We need business leaders to make workplaces more flexible, understanding and proactive when it comes to their workforces. The return of investment is a diverse and dynamic workforce and the unlocking of a huge pool of exceptional female talent. This report aims to shed light on the challenges facing working parents, and in particular mothers, and to suggest some interventions that could play a part in fixing this imbalance.

 

Our hope for this report is that it informs decision-making in companies and stimulates some useful conversations in the home too!

 

With thanks,

Kath Signature

The real cost of the domestic mental load on working parents

Key findings

  • The mental load of parenting still falls on the shoulders of working mothers. Women were twice as likely to be contacted about their child throughout the working day 
  • 53% say they feel pressure to conform to the one breadwinner, one caregiver family set-up, to help balance the load of career and family, with fathers more likely to feel the pressure (64%)
  • Three in five (63%) working parents feel their careers have been impacted by having children and women were more than twice as likely to report feeling less ambitious since having children (39% vs. 15%)
  • 45% of working parents say the rising cost of childcare is making them reconsider whether to work or not
About BlckBx

About BlckBx

BlckBx is a b2b personal and family assistance platform for working parents and carers. The tech-enabled platform, which was founded in 2020 by Kath Clarke, is designed to restore balance in the lives of working parents by pairing families with a personalised family assistant who can provide round-theclock remote support on family logistics and life admin. BlckBx’s vision is that no-one has to choose between their career, family or personal life. Its mission is to restore balance and opportunity for working parents and carers.

Report acknowledgments 

BlckBx would like to thank the working mothers and fathers who generously gave up their time to share their experiences of working parenthood and the juggle so candidly. We would also like to thank Opinium for their support on the research survey and Working Families and Anna Whitehouse (Mother Pukka) for their input and support in the campaign. This report was authored by workplace journalist Katie Jacobs.

Report methodology

This report explores the experience of working parents, mothers and fathers, in permanent employment (full or part time) with children under the age of 15. It is based on a survey of 1001 working parents carried out by Opinium on behalf of BlckBx between 1-6 February 2023, alongside anecdotal stories from a range of working parents across different sectors gathered via interviews.