Equal Parts

Millions of us aren’t just working from home; we’re living at work. Our work days have increased by an average of 48 minutes since the start of the pandemic. Women are taking on more work at home. Many of us, especially Millennials, are feeling unfulfilled and isolated at our jobs. The result: burnout. But burnout was a problem well before COVID-19 hit. In 2019, the World Health Organization classified burnout as an “occupational phenomenon.” The pandemic has “put a match to a workforce in drought,” says Jennifer Moss. She’s an expert on burnout and workplace well-being, an award-winning journalist, speaker, columnist, and author of Unlocking Happiness at Work and the forthcoming book, The Burnout Epidemic. Jennifer discusses the six root causes of our workplace burnout epidemic – all organizational problems that require organizational solutions. She also shares eye-opening findings from a new global study on burnout during the pandemic, and why empathy, psychological safety, and honest conversations at work are an antidote to our burnout crisis.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Advice on how organizations can start small to create big, systemic change that can combat workplace burnout

-Why “self-care” and wellness apps are great for employee well-being, but they aren’t sufficient burnout prevention strategies

-Industries and professions that are particularly susceptible to worker burnout (including health care and technology)

-Differences in how people are affected by burnout according to gender, race, and age

-How compassion fatigue, empathy fatigue, and perfectionism can lead to burnout

For more information, visit https://www.jennifer-moss.com/ and read Jennifer’s article, Beyond Burned Out, in Harvard Business Review.

Stress has been shown to contribute to increased alcohol use among drinkers. And right now, we’re all stressed – especially women, who are dealing with online school, child care, career concerns, and financial worries, just to name a few. But, are Americans really drinking more during the pandemic? The answer isn’t so clear. What is clear is that alcohol use has been increasing over the years for women but not for men. And, when we use alcohol as a way to cope with stress, it negatively affects our mental and physical health, our relationships, and our overall wellbeing. Dr. Aaron White is the Senior Scientific Advisor to the Director at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He’s a biological psychologist who has studied the effects of alcohol and other drugs on the brain for 25 years. Dr. White shares tips to make it easier to deal with or reduce the motivation to drink as a way to cope with life during a pandemic. He also discusses trends in Americans’ alcohol use over the last century, the impacts of alcohol on our health, and the benefits of cutting back – even if it’s just for one “Dry January” out of the year.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Why the gap between men’s and women’s alcohol use is shrinking, and reasons why women are drinking more

-What science says about the long- and short-term effects of alcohol on our mood and mental health

-Why there’s no one “healthier” alcohol than another (sorry, red wine, you’re not better for me than a margarita)

-Tips to examine your relationship with alcohol and decide if you want to cut back or take a break from drinking

-Trends in adolescents’ alcohol use and the connection to mental health issues

-Why it’s never too early to model responsible behavior and talk to your kids about alcohol, no matter their age

-Resources to take a closer look at your relationship with alcohol (check out the NIAAA Rethinking Drinking website and the Treatment Navigator)

For more information, visit https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/

Why is child care not considered a common good, like our public schools, fire departments, and roadways? If we did, we’d support millions of American families and offer them the relief they so desperately need. So, what’s stopping us from banding together to create an interest group like the AARP for parents? These are just some of the questions posed by Elliot Hapsel, an early childhood and K-12 education policy expert, a father of two, and author of Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It. “We treat the early childhood years very differently than we treat the middle childhood and adolescent years, and that’s what animates the child care crisis,” he says. Elliot joins us to talk about child care in America and how the pandemic has dealt “a hammer blow to family stability,” squeezed already-strained child care providers, disrupted early childhood education, and pushed millions of women out of the labor force. Brighter days ahead are possible...if we make it happen. Because when parents get involved, organize, and take action, we have a real shot at fixing our broken care system.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Why finding and affording quality child care is so difficult – and was that way before the pandemic

-change The role government, business, and parents can play in fixing our child care crisis

-Why safety isn't necessarily the issue in reopening public schools, staffing is

-How a “lost school year” affects students over the long-term, and how to approach your school district about providing mental health support and learning recovery programs

-Why companies can’t solve the child care crisis on their own, but they can offer more flexible child care options to employees and help change the system for the greater good

-Why the bipartisan idea of paying parents directly could help solve the child care crisis

-was Resources for parents to advocate for change (check out ChildCareRelief.org to get involved)

For more information, visit https://elliothaspel.com/.

Haley Swenson has seen up close just how severely families are struggling to find and afford child care, even in the best of times. As Deputy Director of the Better Life Lab at New America, she directs research projects and writes on issues related to gender equality, caregiving, paid family leave, and the future of work. The pandemic has disrupted parents’ best laid plans for child care (already a patchwork of contingency plans before the virus), forcing them to make constant shifts, difficult decisions, and trade-offs around work, care, and life. Many, mostly women, are pulling back or stepping away from their jobs just to make things work. Haley is with us to talk about the financial strain and stress that America’s child care crisis is putting on families, child care providers, and employers. She also discusses policy solutions that would help fix our broken child care system, and how parents, private industry, and government can intervene and band together to create systemic change.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-What businesses, government, and policy makers can do to make child care more accessible and affordable to American families – immediately and in the future

-The pandemic’s impact on child care providers, and what’s at stake without additional direct financial support

-Legislation and policies that would offer immediate relief to families and the economy, including extra paid family leave from employers, flexibility, and choice in care options

-The stigma, conflict, and economic anxiety men face as caregivers, and what we can do to change it

-How to get involved in changing child care policies at your workplace, in your community, and across the country

-Resources to make the division of labor and caregiving at home more equitable (check out Better Life Lab Experiments to participate)

For more information, visit https://www.newamerica.org/better-life-lab/.

In 2013, after the birth of his daughter, Josh Levs believed his employer had an unfair parental leave policy for fathers like him. So, he filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against his employer, Time Warner, CNN’s parent company, arguing against the existing policy. At the time, Josh worked as a CNN journalist, broadcaster, and fact checker. His legal action succeeded, forcing the company to change its paid parental leave policy while creating change outside the company, too. Seeing men as caregivers, Josh says, is ultimately a women’s rights issue: “Women will never have equal opportunities in the workplace until men can be treated as equal caregivers.” Today, Josh is a diversity and inclusion consultant and author of the book, All In: How Our Work-First Culture Fails Dads, Families, and Businesses – and How We Can Fix It. The U.N. named him a Global Gender Champion, and The Financial Times named him one of the top 10 male feminists. Josh joins us to share his story as a father and “dadvocate.” He explains how both men and women must work to break toxic stereotypes about fathers and caregiving, and why changing laws, policies, and stigmas are the only way we’ll create gender equality.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Why backward thinking about gender is the reason why the United States doesn’t have a national paid family leave policy (the only industrialized nation in the world not to)

-The misconceptions about fathers that we’ve been told and sold (dads are not lazy!), why we still believe in them, and how to bust antiquated myths about gender roles

-Actions business leaders can take to create dad-friendly work cultures where men no longer fear punishment, retribution, or shame for putting their family first

-How the gender wage gap holds us all back, culturally and economically, and perpetuates slanted views on gender

-Why normalizing images of men as caregivers in the media and in advertising can help shift our mindset

-Ideas for creating change from within your company – and at the state and federal level – and advocate for gender-neutral paid family leave

For more information, visit https://joshlevs.com

Child care has always been a major issue for working parents. But this year, work/life got much harder. Many families faced a tough decision: who keeps working and stops working to care for the kids? In most cases, it’s moms who sacrificed their careers; 2.2 million women were forced out of the workforce as a result of the pandemic, and 1.6 million of them are mothers. For those mothers who are working, many feel guilty, burnt out, and isolated. Blessing Adesiyan knows and has spoken with them. She is a mother of three and the founder and CEO of Mother Honestly, a global community for women that’s on a mission to reimagine how to thrive in motherhood, work, and life. Blessing joins the podcast to share lessons and stories from the community about how women have been impacted, and set back, at home and at work this year. And, she highlights steps employers are taking to better support working parents through this year of uncertainty...and beyond.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-The impact of America’s care crisis, exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic, on working families (women especially) and their employers

-The disconnect between what working parents need and what employers think they need – and why conversations are critical to finding solutions that work

-Positive ways in which caregiving is starting to become normalized – not stigmatized – in the workplace

-Ways some employers are helping working parent employees during the pandemic and beyond, including tutoring, learning pods, extra paid leave, flexible work, and backup child care

-Advice on how to advocate for support from your employer (without feeling like you’re going to get penalized for speaking up)

For more information, visit https://motherhonestly.com/.

This year, our mental health has been dealt a crushing blow. A third of Americans, many of whom are working parents, are showing signs of clinical depression or anxiety. Alcohol consumption and substance abuse are on the rise – especially among mothers. We’ve stressed, self-doubted, and simply forgotten to take care of #1. Lisa Abramson is here to help. She’s an executive coach, mother of two, author, and leading authority on mindfulness who’s taught programs at Google, Cisco, Microsoft, PwC, Uber, and many others. Called an “inspiration” by Oprah, Lisa’s mindfulness meditations have been streamed online over 1 million times around the world. She shares advice on how you can start to take better care of yourself – mentally and physically – with tips and ideas you can put into practice right away to achieve a calmer, more mindful and resilient you. Discover self-compassion, silence your inner critic, and say goodbye to burnout – no matter what work/life has in store.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-Advice on making the time and space to focus on YOU; even a few deep breaths or 5 minutes a day of mindfulness works wonders

-The benefits of a daily dance party (FloRida optional!)

-Tips for starting, and sticking with, a daily mindfulness meditation practice

-The benefits of cutting back – or stopping – drinking alcohol, and how to focus on what you want to gain, not on what you’re losing, when you chose to stop drinking

-How creating new family rituals can build more intention (and fun!) into into your days

-The difference between the pressure to succeed and ambition

-The power of asking one simple question: “What do you want?”

-Lisa’s personal story of living through postpartum psychosis, and what she learned from her experience

For more information, visit www.lisaabramson.com.

School always presents certain challenges for students who learn and think differently (kids with ADHD, dyslexia, giftedness, autism, anxiety, or other neuro-differences). But the Covid-19 pandemic has created even greater obstacles for these children – social isolation, academic and emotional regression, difficulty focusing and learning on a screen all day – as well as for the parents who are raising them. Debbie Reber is a parenting activist, New York Times bestselling author, and the founder of TiLT Parenting, a resource for parents who are raising differently wired children. She joins us to share ideas on how you can best prioritize and plan in the pandemic-era school landscape. She also offers advice on how to support your differently wired child’s cognitive, social, and emotional needs during this atypical time, while also taking care of your own emotional health and well-being.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-How to use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a framework to think about what differently wired children need throughout the pandemic

-Warning signs that your differently wired child is struggling emotionally, academically, and socially, and advice on how to address these challenges

-Why it’s okay to “lower the bar” and reset expectations of what academic success looks like this year

-The importance of communicating with teachers and advocating for changes (if needed) to special education plans, including IEPs and 504 plans

-Ways to help your child find academic motivation

-Ideas on how to carve out more time and space for yourself, as well as for your kids

With kids at home, careers to maintain, and households to run, working mothers are running on empty. Something’s gotta give. Unfortunately, it’s often their job. Today, womens’ participation in the U.S. labor force is the lowest it's been in decades. They’re pulling back on their careers – or dropping out of the workforce entirely – because they simply can’t do it all. The situation is especially dire for women in senior leadership positions and Black women. Marianne Cooper, Ph.D., is a sociologist at Stanford University where she researches issues related to gender, women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion, financial insecurity, and economic inequality. She was the lead researcher for Sheryl Sandberg’s best-selling book, Lean In, and is an author of the Women in the Workplace reports by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org. Marianne joins us to share major findings from this year’s eye-opening report, which reveals just how stark the Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the inequalities and insecurities women have faced in the workplace for years. She also discusses what we must do to keep women in the workforce – enabling them, their families, their employers, and the economy to thrive in the process.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-The tension (and burnout) working moms feel between being the “ideal worker” and the “good mother”

-Why women suffer the “mom penalty” and worry they’ll be stigmatized at work (so they hide child care responsibilities from co-workers and managers)

-Why one in four women are considering “downshifting” their careers or leaving the workforce due to Covid-19

-How the increase in remote work has created greater bias against working mothers

-Why we must show up for Black women – and what employers can do to better support them

-What business, society, and the economy risks losing if we don’t act with urgency and empathy to support working families

-Actions employers can take to keep women in the workforce, including better family care benefits, rethinking performance reviews, and greater flexibility

For more information, visit https://www.mariannecooper.com/

If you think politics is stressful and confusing for adults, imagine how kids feel. (Yes, they are paying attention!) Heated debates. Constant breaking news. Ads for candidates on social media. Kids absorb more about politics than we realize. Which is why it’s up to parents to model civility, teach respect for different viewpoints, and set the right example for responsible political engagement. Dr. Christia Spears Brown is a professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Kentucky and director of the university's Center for Equality and Social Justice. She shares findings from a 2019 study on kids and their political thinking and offers advice on how to talk to your kids about politics, partisanship, and elections — in language they will understand.

Listen to this episode to learn:

-If there’s a “too young” to start talking about politics with kids

-How our values and our communities play central roles in shaping a child’s political thinking

-Age-appropriate ways to start conversations with kids about race and gender using concepts like fairness and respect

-Research on how kids viewed the 2016 election, and what it can teach us this year

-Practical ideas for encouraging kids of all ages to stand up for the causes and issues they believe in

-Resources for teaching kids about politics, elections, and how American democracy works (check out tolerance.org and kidsvotingusa.org)

For more information, visit https://christiabrown.com/