According to an article in Psychology Today, “Mothers are Drowning in Stress”, sociologist Caitlyn Collins performed a study “Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving” of working moms in 4 wealthy western countries and she found that the moms from the United States have it the worst in terms of feeling overwhelmed and generally tapped out. So, consistently she found that moms wanted to essentially combine working for paid employment while also being a mom in ways that didn’t distract from either their home or work lives too much. Now that’s the thing, it’s like your work life usually bleeds over into your home life and your home life can seep over into your work life. 

You are pulled in many directions and left feeling unaccomplished, but you have to stop and count your small victories. 

The four countries studied were East Berlin, Sweden, United States, West Germany, and Italy. In Sweden, she found the highest support for families, equal responsibility in child rearing and breadwinning, the moms still feel pressure of motherhood still but not necessarily overwhelming.

In East Berlin, they have universal employment for both women and men, and the women do not feel conflict so to speak over working. They don’t really focus heavily on a “career”.

While in West Germany and Italy, the article said that these women, with strong histories in maternalism, the women feel that a career can conflict with motherhood so seeking that lifestyle of working is kinda frowned upon. 

US moms have it the worst!!!!!! The study found that US moms-

1. Have a lack of support
2. Crushing guilt
3. Work-family conflict (insert story about breast pumping at work)
4. The conflicts moms experience are considered “personal problems” 
5. It’s thought that, according to the study, that “ (13) The cultural ideal of motherhood is an all-absorbing devotion to her children as the source of her life’s meaning, creativity, and fulfillment. Children are seen as fragile and only properly cared for by loving mothers. Fathers can’t help much, because they are thought to lack the right nurturing skills. (14)”

Celebrate the small victories. 

References: 

Article: Dr. Alison Escalante, Pediatrician and Writer

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shouldstorm/201903/mothers-are-drowning-in-stress

Collins, Caitlyn. (2019) Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Music Credit: Mitchell Huntley, Power of Love, “Freestyle".

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