Why U.S. Working Moms Are So Stressed – And What To Do About It

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Harvard Business Review

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4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2019

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Caitlyn Collins, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis, conducted interviews with mothers in four countries -- the United States, Italy, Germany, and Sweden -- who have jobs outside the home to better understand the pressures they felt. She found that American moms were by far the most stressed, primarily because of the lack of parental benefits offered by their employers and the government. In Europe, women told Collins they had more help, but at times cultural norms around their personal and professional roles had yet to catch up. Collins thinks companies can work to improve the situation but argues that the real solution is carefully designed government interventions that will help families at all income levels. She’s the author of the book “Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	Kurt Nick is here from Ideacast. I want to tell you about the Big Take
0:05.1	podcast from Bloomberg News. Each weekday they bring you one important story
0:10.0	from their global newsroom like how AI will upend your life and why China's
0:15.4	targeting the US dollar. Check out the big take from Bloomberg wherever you
0:20.2	listen. Welcome to the HPR Ideacast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Allison Beard. Stressed, exhausted, overwhelmed, guilty.
0:53.0	These are some of the words that working moms in four countries
0:55.5	used to describe themselves when talking to our guest today,
0:58.3	Caitlin Collins.
0:59.8	She's a professor of sociology at Washington University
1:02.4	in St. Louis and the author of
1:04.2	making motherhood work. For that book she interviewed 135 women who have children
1:09.6	and jobs outside the home and ask them about their lives.
1:13.3	Samantha, a lawyer in Washington, D.C. expressed a common sentiment among American mothers.
1:19.1	Before I had children, the message was, you can do everything. I can't do everything if I keep all the balls in the air I'm broken in
1:27.2	In Europe where parental benefits are much better we think employed mothers are happier and Collins research supports that
1:33.9	but she also found that some were still frustrated by expectations that they be
1:38.0	both ideal workers and perfect moms. She wants to find solutions for these women but not the self-help kind.
1:45.0	As a sociologist she's more interested in how policy and cultural change can help.
1:50.0	Caitlin thanks so much for coming on the show.
1:52.0	Thanks for having me. Caitlin, thanks so much for coming on the show.
1:53.0	Thanks for having me.
1:57.0	So it seems like working motherhood is a balancing act, sometimes a very stressful
	...

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