More than half of working women spend their day feeling stressed, a new Gallup poll found. The survey explored the work-life balance of women compared to men, finding that 42% of working women felt their job negatively impacted their mental health.
One in six working women said they address personal or family responsibilities at least once a day while working. They’re also more likely than men to think about work after working hours.
About the same number of women said they must address job-related responsibilities while off the clock. Women who dealt with daily interruptions like these were 81% more likely to feel burned out.
Women with children reported being nearly three times as likely as men to be the default responder to their child’s needs. In the event of a childcare issue, women are more likely to handle it than men.
The poll found that women are twice as likely as their male counterparts to consider reducing work hours or quitting jobs altogether. Women reported missing out on promotions due to family obligations, including childcare issues.
The Gallup poll explored options to help women stay in the workforce. It found the traditional 9-to-5 is a big part of the problem.
Gallup differentiated work styles by “splitters” and “blenders.”
Splitters have clear boundaries between work and personal time, while blenders prefer to alternate between the two fluidly throughout the day.
The poll found more than half of women identify as blenders, but three out of four said they’re on a splitter work schedule. That means one in three women reported working jobs that don’t work for them.
Gallup reported that this leads to more stress and burnout and influences women to seek new jobs. Only about a quarter of women surveyed said they feel their job cares about their well-being.
