When a 2018 survey claimed that U.S. mothers were working the equivalent of 2.5 full-time jobs (about 98 hours per week), it grabbed headlines and stoked debate. Since then, new research has deepened our understanding of what “mothers’ workload” really means—showing that the pressure often lies not just in physical labor, but in the unseen cognitive burden of planning, anticipating, and managing household life. What has changed since that sweeping claim? And what does it mean for moms today?
The 2018 Benchmark: 98 Hours, “2.5 Jobs,” and the Reaction
The 2018 survey (conducted via OnePoll for Welch’s) of about 2,000 U.S. mothers with children aged 5–12 found that a typical mother’s combined paid work, caregiving, household chores, planning, and related tasks added up to ~98 hours weekly. That works out to roughly 14 hours of work per day, spanning the early morning to the evening.
Around 40 % of moms in the survey said their week felt like an endless chain of tasks rather than moments of rest.
The narrative that followed—moms running on overdrive—struck a chord. But critics flagged methodological issues: Did respondents double-count overlapping tasks? Did multitasking lead to overstatement? Is such self-reporting reliable?
Importantly, that survey helped shift the public conversation from “how many chores are moms doing?” to “how much cognitive pressure are moms under?”
What’s New in 2024–2025: The Rise of the Mental Load
Since 2018, researchers have sharpened the lens. They now differentiate the physical tasks (cleaning, laundry, chauffeuring) from the cognitive labor—the mental work behind running a household.
Mothers handle ~70% of the mental load
A 2024 U.S. study found that mothers now manage 71 % of household tasks that require mental effort—from planning schedules to remembering supplies and coordinating family logistics.
That share is “60 % more” than fathers, whose involvement often centers on episodic tasks (like finances or repairs).
Cognitive load is linked with stress, burnout, mental health
A 2024 paper in PMC’s Cognitive Household Labor found that women’s disproportionate share of cognitive labor correlated strongly with higher rates of depression, stress, and burnout.
Another study across European countries linked heavy cognitive labor to so-called “family–work conflict” (i.e., arriving at a paid job already mentally drained).
US researchers similarly pointed out that unequal cognitive burdens contributed to maternal mental health strain.
Trends suggest gradual convergence—but gaps persist
A 2025 study argues that Western societies are slowly seeing more balanced time allocation between mothers and fathers.
And in a major new time-use analysis, Milkie et al. report that while women’s housework hours have declined over decades, men’s unpaid work time has increased—but not enough to close the gap.
Still, for many mothers, progress feels incremental rather than transformative.
What 2025 Research Adds: Nuance & Context
Gendered stress: who “gets exhausted first”?
Studies now show that even when men and women share tasks, performing cognitive labor is more draining when undervalued. The MIT/European study found that women doing a majority of cognitive labor had a significantly higher risk of arriving at paid work exhausted; men in equivalent cognitive roles did not show the same risk.
Parenthood amplifies inequality
A 2025 study published in Journal of Marriage and Family found that after becoming parents, women experience sharp reductions in paid work and large increases in housework, while men’s time use shifts little.
Third-shift work and “invisible chores”
A 2025 article in The Division of Domestic Labor examines the idea of “third-shift” tasks: emotional labor, mental load, synchronizing calendars, etc., which are seldom captured in standard surveys.
The Free-Time Gap
A recent analysis (2024) shows that women hold 13 % less free time than men—on average—and among parents, mothers have about 17 % less downtime than fathers.
This erosion of rest underlines how mothers’ workload isn’t just about tasks—it’s about what vanishes: recovery, spontaneity, pause.
Reading Between the Lines: How Interpretations Evolve
The 98-hour claim still stimulates conversation, but modern research gives us a more textured picture:
- Overlap and multitasking matter. Time diaries (less susceptible to recall bias) often yield lower estimates than aggregating tasks independently.
- Cognitive labor is ever-present. Even during perceived “downtime,” mothers may carry the mental load (e.g. anticipating what needs done, planning tomorrow’s schedule).
- Cultural norms anchor inequality. Many couples never explicitly discuss mental labor, so invisible expectations stick.
- Policy and structural context matter. Paid leave, affordable childcare, flexible work, and social norms all influence how burdens get distributed.
Thus, the story shifts from “how many hours” to “how the burden is structured and sustained.”
What It Means—and What Can Help
For families: talk, map, adjust
- Use tools like the Fair Play Method (which turns invisible tasks into tangible items) to surface mental labor and assign it deliberately.
- Schedule periodic check-ins: “What tasks have I been carrying that you didn’t see?”
- Normalize “pause tasks” (e.g. thinking, planning) as legitimate workload.
For employers and policymakers
- Recognize unpaid labor as part of total workload in conversations about burnout and well-being.
- Expand access to flexible work, parental leave, and backup care support.
- Promote cultural norms that value emotional and managerial labor at home.
For mothers (and partners)
- Resist self-blame: unequal mental load is symptom, not flaw.
- Lean into external supports—delegation, outsourcing, community networks.
- Build micro pauses: even 5-minute breaks for deep breathing or mental reset can help.
What began in 2018 as a striking portrayal of overwork has deepened into a more nuanced reality: mothers’ workload is less a tally of tasks and more a mix of visible labor plus invisible cognitive burden. As new studies show, the mental load is often where the strain hides—and where equity must change.
