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14th December 2023
03:47pm GMT
There is a lot of talk about how stressful it can be for mums to combine a full-time job with family life, with many experts and studies claiming we are all stressed to the nines at all times. But often, the focus has been on work being the stress-inducer here, not life at home.
However, in a study from Penn State University, researchers examined women’s and men’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol during the week and – interestingly – found that women have higher stress levels at home than at work – and report feeling happier at work.
In comparison, men too, feel more stressed at home than at the office, but also report feeling happier at home than women did. It is important to point out that it appears it is not our children that make us feel stressed, as women without children are particularly prone to higher stress at home, but parents on the whole—both mums and dads—report feeling better on the job than at home.
This might be good news for working mums in a way, says Working Mother magazine, as the study might suggest that work is a necessary part of the life-happiness equation. But – it also serves as an important reminder of how much more stressful home life, can be for women, particularly mums—who may still have a bigger “second shift” of chores and/or child care than men do.
A solution, according to co-study author Sarah Damaske, an assistant professor of labour and employment relations at Penn State, could be that companies adopt more family-friendly policies – so that mums can continue benefiting from being employed while still being able to meet family responsibilities.
“Telecommuting, paid sick days, paternity and maternity leaves are all policies that make it easier for workers to retain the health benefits of employment and for companies to retain the financial benefits of having loyal employees rather than having to deal with constant job turnover,” Damaske said.
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