Horrible year of working mothers, there is regression alarm - Lifestyle

Equilibrists, as the

defined them

, double shift workers, triple jump workers ... definitions abound but in the end they tell the same thing in different terms:

, used to juggling work responsibilities and family time more or less with ease but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced all these millions of women to deal with the ability to skate between work and home, between professional ambitions and family aspirations . If before the Coronavirus crisis they were slowly making progress in the workplace, now the challenge is on a completely different level and the occasion of 'Mother's Day' on Sunday 9 May is an opportunity to talk about it. McKinsey's 2020 Women in the Workplace report, conducted with LeanIn.Org, revealed a surprising statistic: one in four working women in North America said she was considering changing careers or leaving the workforce entirely. For working mothers,and particularly those with small children, the number was one in three. They are American data but it is not improper to make them ours in the social trend. McKinsey's research, released in early May 2021, focused on the last year of the exhibition

. They faced a

"of household responsibilities, mental health problems, a more difficult remote work experience and worries about the future and rising unemployment rates, particularly among black mothers and single mothers. These burdens add to structural barriers for working women, including the gender gap. We know that women's advancement in the workforce matters; companies with more female executives are more likely to outperform those with fewer senior women. Working mothers accounted for nearly a third of the force female jobs in the United States in 2020, so employers shouldn't ignore or minimize the hardships millions of women face now.

Research shows that prior to the pandemic, working mothers had similar career ambitions to working women in general. Indeed, data from Women in the Workplace 2019 indicated that working mothers in North America appeared to have higher ambition numbers in several key categories. But the pandemic has altered this equation: the additional burdens at work and at home since the start of the COVID-19 crisis

. In a workforce struggling for gender equality,

- and a relative drop in promotion rates for women -

Mental health has taken a hit

Challenges to mental health and burnout emerged as significant problems for all workers during the pandemic.

A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2020 found that 45% of Americans believe the COVID-19 crisis is damaging their mental health.

Globally, the impact on women was surprising: the survey showed that in both advanced and developing countries, mothers (75%) are more likely than fathers (69%) to be at home. struggling with mental health problems.

In a separate employee experience survey, McKinsey looked at how remote working was affecting different groups and found that the impact on working mothers versus working fathers was stark.

The burden of the "double shift" grows

Decades of research show that women do significantly more housework and childcare than men, to the point where it is often said that women working full-time work a " double shift ". Now, women, and mothers in particular, are taking on an even heavier load. Mothers are three times more likely than fathers to be responsible for most of the housework and care during the pandemic. In fact, they are 1.5 times more likely than fathers to spend another three or more hours a day on housework and childcare.

: 10% more single mothers report spending three or more hours a day more on housework and childcare than mothers in general. Not even working mothers are recognized for the time they spend. And the burden of home care is shifting to work.

Potential grows for long-term career loss

The regressive gender effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic damage not only immediate economic security for millions of women and their families, but also long-term economic growth and social stability , according to research from the McKinsey Global Institute. In the United States, job

. 

How Businesses Can Respond

During this crisis, institutions have increased resources to help workers, including mothers, cope with their toughest challenges. However, as pandemic-related stress and burnout continues into the second year, employers must not take away these supports: 

particularly with regards to childcare, flexibility of life work and performance reviews. Childcare policies and programs need to be adapted. These policies should not be seen as short-term emergency actions during the pandemic, but rather as

 The need for more flexibility in working life is the number one problem raised by men and women at work, and companies have responded by increasing flexibility over the past five years. The need for flexibility at work only increased during the pandemic. According to McKinsey research, remote working mothers who report more effective time management and flexible schedules, both key indicators of work-life balance, are three times more likely than those who report having a state of positive well-being compared to those that signal the inefficiency of the work and the rigidity of the program. to be. Employees with young children are more likely to primarily prefer remote work models and flexible workplaces.The cultural context around paternity leave is changing as more and more countries and companies offer the advantage to new fathers. Worldwide, 90 out of 187 countries offer legally paid paternity leave, with nearly four out of ten organizations providing paid leave above the required minimum. But despite this change in support, fewer than half of eligible fathers in OECD countries enjoy the benefits offered to them.less than half of eligible fathers in OECD countries enjoy the benefits offered to them.less than half of eligible fathers in OECD countries enjoy the benefits offered to them.