Survey by WorkingMomsBreak.com Shows 88% of Working Parents Suffer Stress-Related Health Problems
Working parents have a lot to juggle, and this can create stress. But what is often overlooked is that stress has real health consequences.
Oakland, CA, June 15, 2011 --(PR.com)-- In May, WorkMomsBreak.com released a survey asking working parents about stress and its effects on their health. More than 600 people responded. After filtering out respondents who lived in a household with at least one stay-at-home adult, that left 560 respondents in households where all adults work.[1] Their answers were alarming:
80% catch up on work nights and weekends
81% worry they will burn out
88% said they suffer from at least one stress-related health problem since becoming a working parent
59% have problems with anxiety
43% struggle with depression
The survey underscores the reality that working parents experience on a day-to-day basis: Most jobs are made for people who have no caregiving responsibilities. That means that most parents (or people caring for elderly or sick loved ones) have to do the accommodating.
Experts say parents experience more work-family conflict in the U.S. than any other nation in the developed world.[2] The results of this survey imply that for many, the price they pay is their health.
Hundreds of parents left comments at the end of the survey. One summarized the problem this way:
"Unfortunately, we're living in a 'half-changed world' - women have many more professional opportunities than did the last generation, but our importance as mothers and wives and to ourselves has not been taken into account, and there are increasing demands from our jobs...We all need to redefine work/success/'doing it all' so that our daughters will not face these same dilemmas."
Who took the survey
Most people who took the survey are moms. (96%)
Most live in the U.S., although a handful of responses came from the UK, Australia, and a few other countries.
Most have 1-2 children, and roughly half have at least one child under the age of three.
75% work full time.[3]
8% are single parents.
Of those who have a live-in partner, 81% of their partners work full time.
Almost everyone works because they need the income (91%) but that’s not the only reason they work. More than half said that despite the juggling act, they enjoy working.
About WorkingMomsBreak.com
WorkingMomsBreak.com is a blog by Katrina Alcorn, a web consultant and former journalist. Alcorn has two children (ages 4 and 8) and a stepdaughter (age 10). Through the blog, she's heard from hundreds of parents around the U.S. and many other countries about their struggles to work and raise children.
For more detailed survey results, or to schedule an interview, please contact Katrina Alcorn at Katrina@workingmomsbreak.com.
[1] The parents in this survey reflect the new norm. Today, 70% of children in the U.S. are growing up in households where all adults are employed.
[2] “The Three Faces of Work-family Conflict: The Poor, the Professionals, and the Missing Middle.” By Joan C. Williams of the Center for WorkLife Law and Heather Boushey of the Center for American Progress. Published January 2010.
[3] For the purposes of the survey, "full time" was defined as more than 32 hours per week.
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80% catch up on work nights and weekends
81% worry they will burn out
88% said they suffer from at least one stress-related health problem since becoming a working parent
59% have problems with anxiety
43% struggle with depression
The survey underscores the reality that working parents experience on a day-to-day basis: Most jobs are made for people who have no caregiving responsibilities. That means that most parents (or people caring for elderly or sick loved ones) have to do the accommodating.
Experts say parents experience more work-family conflict in the U.S. than any other nation in the developed world.[2] The results of this survey imply that for many, the price they pay is their health.
Hundreds of parents left comments at the end of the survey. One summarized the problem this way:
"Unfortunately, we're living in a 'half-changed world' - women have many more professional opportunities than did the last generation, but our importance as mothers and wives and to ourselves has not been taken into account, and there are increasing demands from our jobs...We all need to redefine work/success/'doing it all' so that our daughters will not face these same dilemmas."
Who took the survey
Most people who took the survey are moms. (96%)
Most live in the U.S., although a handful of responses came from the UK, Australia, and a few other countries.
Most have 1-2 children, and roughly half have at least one child under the age of three.
75% work full time.[3]
8% are single parents.
Of those who have a live-in partner, 81% of their partners work full time.
Almost everyone works because they need the income (91%) but that’s not the only reason they work. More than half said that despite the juggling act, they enjoy working.
About WorkingMomsBreak.com
WorkingMomsBreak.com is a blog by Katrina Alcorn, a web consultant and former journalist. Alcorn has two children (ages 4 and 8) and a stepdaughter (age 10). Through the blog, she's heard from hundreds of parents around the U.S. and many other countries about their struggles to work and raise children.
For more detailed survey results, or to schedule an interview, please contact Katrina Alcorn at Katrina@workingmomsbreak.com.
[1] The parents in this survey reflect the new norm. Today, 70% of children in the U.S. are growing up in households where all adults are employed.
[2] “The Three Faces of Work-family Conflict: The Poor, the Professionals, and the Missing Middle.” By Joan C. Williams of the Center for WorkLife Law and Heather Boushey of the Center for American Progress. Published January 2010.
[3] For the purposes of the survey, "full time" was defined as more than 32 hours per week.
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510-393-8530
workingmomsbreak.com
Katrina Alcorn
510-393-8530
workingmomsbreak.com
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