Even as the constraints of the pandemic era have begun to lift, the current pressures felt by working moms have yet to alleviate.

In a recent Barna survey, working mothers shared with Barna that they are feeling overwhelmed, navigating workplace shifts and desiring time to prioritize self-care, findings we’ll take a closer look at in this article.

1. Working Mothers Are More Likely Than Working Fathers to Feel Overwhelmed With moms historically having shouldered the burden of domestic responsibilities and care of children and loved ones—a pattern that COVID exasperated—it comes as no surprise that employed mothers are feeling overwhelmed, even forgotten.

In an early 2022 survey, when asked how they feel about where we are in the pandemic, over one in three working mothers (36% of women who are part- or full-time employed and have children under 18 in their household) reports being overwhelmed.

That makes working mothers 13 percentage points more likely than working fathers (23%) to feel this way. This is further supported by the fact that working fathers—and all other men, in fact—are more likely than working mothers to say that they haven’t been affected by the pandemic (22% vs. 11%).