In a recent decision, the Supreme Court recognized domestics as “nation builders” and directed a compensation of at least 30,000 rupees every month in case of their accidental death.
He also noted that women’s unpaid care work can contribute up to 15 to 17 percent of the country’s GDP.
However, there is a growing number of explorative which suggests that there is an invisible dimension of unpaid work that has yet to be studied.
Also, this undercover work is not limited to housewives but also to women working in organized sectors.
Sitting in front of the office desk, between pages turning and turning, you remember replacing the smelly dish soap by the sink or planning how to drop the child off at an activity class. Unlike physically cleaning a floor or presenting at an office, this invisible mental work happens far away from the view of others.
This non-tangible task uses cognitive resources and is called mental load.
To run a family, you have to remember, anticipate, organize and plan activities that can keep a family going.
Scientists are finding part of it ‘thinking work’ it disproportionately falls on women in any heterosexual relationship.
A study listed as Dropping a load? Not for mothers: Gender, cognitive work, and the limits of time and money published in Sage Journals have introduced the concept of ‘gender cognitive stickiness’ where they found that these hidden cognitive tasks invariably reside in a woman’s head.
This has led to the discovery of a new dimension of work, which is not created by situations, but from within a person’s mind.
of explorative has also noted that although unpaid family work has been studied as a driver of gender inequality, this new dimension of domestic work has not been investigated empirically.
What is mental load?
Mental workload can be understood as cognitive work which closely overlaps with emotional workload, but they can be different at times.
According to Cleveland Clinic, it’s the burden of to-do lists in one’s mind of all the tasks that need to be done to keep a functioning family.
A study titled Mental workload: building a deeper theoretical understanding of how cognitive and emotional work overloads women and mothers, There are three salient characteristics of mental workload:
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It is invisible and applies within the limits of the mind.
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There are no restrictions and can easily include work and leisure.
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It is never complete and continues to happen in an endless cycle.
Unaddressed mental workload has been associated with emotional exhaustion, sleep disturbances, work-family conflict, and lower job satisfaction for people, especially women, who bear the brunt of this silent work.
The study published in Archives of Women’s Mental Health asked 322 new mothers who performed about 30 common household tasks in their respective homes.
The tasks were divided into broad categories – physical and cognitive. Some of the tasks included the children’s medical needs, housekeeping, lunch packing, homework help, laundry, weekday dinner, transportation, household supplies, groceries, setting up the children’s morning and evening routines, dishes, bills and garbage.
The study found that 73 percent of all family cognitive load was invariably handled by mothers compared to their male partners.
According to International Labor Organization 2018women already do 76 percent of unpaid care work, which is three times more than men.
Numerous studies have found that the division of labor is one of the main drivers of gender inequality in the world.
According to Health linesame-sex couples are more likely to share household responsibilities more equally compared to heterosexual relationships.
Evidence also shows that women are 1.6 times more likely to cope with dual digital communication at work and at home. This can involve making decisions about work and home at the same time, increasing their likelihood of suffering from decision fatigue and burnout. Some experts are slowly discovering a digital aspect of this hidden work, where women are likely to be more active in messaging apps, navigating decisions and delegating roles at work and at home.
According to BBC, a man’s boundary is more likely to be protected if they work from home compared to their female partner. On the other hand, women who work from home are more likely to deal with housework during their working hours, negatively affecting their job performance and long-term career and salary trajectory.
