Study: Moms multitask more than dads
December 14, 2011
A new study confirms what many mothers and especially mothers pursuing a college education already know - moms spend more time multitasking at home.
The study conducted by researchers from Michigan State University and Israel's Bar-Ilan University followed 500 middle class families with two working parents for a period of two years. They found that women spent about 48.3 hours in the home multitasking per week, compared to men, who spent about 38.9 hours per week juggling household and child care duties.
"It is very clear that women are shouldering much more of the responsibilities of housework and childcare," study co-author Barbara Schneider told CBS News. "Working mothers are doing two activities at once more than two-fifths of the time they are awake, while working fathers are multitasking more than a third of their waking hours."
While the study looked at the differences among working parents, they can easily be transferred to families in which one parent is attending college full-time. Moms pursuing their education have to juggle homework, studying, reading and projects with their housework and taking care of their children.
And, unlike a job in which you go home and forget about it until the following day, those going to school have to spend their at-home time preparing for classroom time.
"Mothers carry this deep, fundamental concern about their children's care. It's not that fathers don't, but dad is more of a helper, while mom is command central. Why? Because she's afraid people won't think she's a good mom," Schneider told the Chicago Tribune.
The constant multitasking can cause stress among parents. Increased stress can cause insomnia and a variety of other issues with concentration, mood and health.
Experts say common ways to reduce stress include delegating responsibilities, exercising, getting adequate sleep, eating healthy and mediating.
While finances are also a common source of parental stress, parents who are pursuing a college degree can get help with financing their education through various grants for parents, scholarships and other financial aid.
Gaining a degree can also help alleviate financial stress in a household, as it boosts the recipient's earning power. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in 2009, the average salary for adults ages 25 to 34 with a bachelor's degree was $45,000, while those with a high school diploma or other equivalent degree earned an average of $30,000 per year.
