The Mental Load of Women in the Workplace
The mental load that women carry in the workplace is ENORMOUS.
We are told:
“Don’t wear clothes that are too provocative.”
“But make sure you’re wearing makeup to look professional.”
“Don’t be too friendly with male colleagues.”
“But don’t be too uptight.”
“Don’t sacrifice your career for your family.”
“Why don’t you have kids yet?”
Women’s History Month hits differently in 2025 when it is extraordinarily clear that the brunt of home life is still being shouldered by American women.
We are in an equity crisis. The relationship between being a “professional” and a “parent” remains fractured—if not nonexistent.
Pick one: A parent. Or a professional.
But I refuse to stand idly by as the work of our ancestors, mothers, and sisters crumbles under the weight of this false choice. We cannot leave working women and mothers behind.
We must work to create fair, equitable, and accessible opportunities for all working mothers in the workplace.
How Do We Start?
Conversations. Begin discussions with your friends, neighbors, colleagues (both women and men). Ask: How would you manage work and family life in an ideal world?
Ideation. Once conversations begin, ideas emerge.
Action. Change happens when ideas become policy.
Through conversations I’ve had over the last few years—and through my own experience as a mother—I’ve identified tangible steps that can create sustainable, equitable policy changes in the workplace. From parental leave to equal pay, these are the changes we need:
Policies That Support Women & Families
Parental Leave is a MUST.
The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world yet does not mandate paid parental leave. If we want to support women (and their future children) in the workforce, we must prioritize this. Paid leave is an investment in the future of our economy, labor force, and society.
Options to consider:
3 months, 4 months, 6 months, or 1 year
Full or partial pay
Leave offered to both parents
Inclusion of adoptive and foster parents
Child Care Solutions
The financial and logistical burden of child care is immense. Employers must integrate child care into their people policies.
Options to consider:
On-site daycare
Stipends for child care
Work-from-home options
Flexible work hours
Equal and Equitable Pay
In the U.S., women make $0.81 for every $1.00 a man makes.
How to close the gap:
Run pay equity reports internally.
Promote based on contribution.
Provide transparency into pay bands.
Family-First Paid Time Off (fPTO)
Encourage parents to take paid time off for crucial family needs. This includes:
Doctor’s appointments
Dentist visits
Sick days
Parent/teacher conferences
Passport appointments
Room parent participation
Programs That Create Change
Mentorship: Representation Matters
“You can’t be what you can’t see.”
Women are less likely to aspire to leadership because they haven’t seen it modeled. There are only 41 female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies—just 8.2%.
How to build mentorship:
Establish 1:1 mentorship programs: Pair a new employee with a seasoned leader. Pair an expecting mother with a mother of two. Pair a single mother with another single mother. Pair two women who are child-free by choice.
Host panels & workshops where women share their career journeys.
Skillshares: Translating Home Skills to Work
Motherhood cultivates leadership, multitasking, negotiation, and crisis management. But too often, these skills are dismissed in professional settings.
Solution:
Teach employees how to identify and communicate transferable skills gained from home life.
Support career development through skill-building workshops.
Allyship: Small Acts, Big Impact
Supporting working mothers doesn’t always require sweeping policy changes—sometimes, the biggest impact comes from simple, everyday actions.
Ways to be an ally:
Bring a working mom coffee in the morning (we all know how hectic mornings are!).
Send a quick “You got this” email as encouragement.
Offer to bring over dinner for a family (yes, even a frozen pizza and a bagged salad count!).
Babysit or host a playdate so a mom can get an hour of peace and quiet.
Women Mentoring Women: A Legacy of Support
My grandmother said, two years before she passed,
“Women mentoring women is important. Oftentimes, women have had men as mentors, and that is not the same. Women do work differently than men, and women leaders need to add female mentoring to their tasks. It will not only reward other women and help them expand their vision of what they can be—it will help the mentors more clearly define their jobs and see their own worth.”
This International Women’s Day, let’s honor the legacy of the women before us by ensuring we are mentoring, supporting, and advocating for the women of today and tomorrow.
Because women shouldn’t have to choose between building a career and building a family. We deserve the opportunity to do both—and thrive in both.
Change starts with conversation, but it is sustained through action. Let’s take the next step, together.
