The mental load isn’t just draining. It’s debilitating.
Thank you Women's Agenda for publishing co-founder Claire Waring's Op-Ed. She shares her personal experience and professional insights on the real cost of mental load.
Have you ever held back from a career opportunity because of family responsibilities? You’re not alone.
When my children were small I gave up a creative director role so that I could work part time. In the naughties leading a team meant 60+ hours a week in the office. Today, women are still five times more likely than men to cite children as the reason they can’t work more. The societal expectation of being the CEO of the home AND a professional forces many women to choose between career growth and family.
For businesses, mental load is at the heart of a talent retention crisis, undermining gender diversity and profits. I’ve seen firsthand how the weight of invisible labor stalls the progress of talented women on leadership trajectories – a loss that comes at a significant financial cost. Australian companies with gender-diverse leadership report 30 per cent higher profit margins than those with less diversity.
