According to the annual Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.Org, women in the workplace dealt with the brunt of burnout in 2021.
Both men and women have been found to experience burnout over the past two years, mainly due to overwork, lack of childcare support, and more. However, women were more pressured to balance work and home responsibilities.
The gap between women and men reporting being burned out has nearly doubled since last year. The survey of over 65,000 North American professionals saw 42% of women and 35% of men reporting burnout this year, compared to 32% of women and 28% of men in 2020.
This isn’t necessarily breaking news — women have disproportionately carried the burdens of the pandemic since the start, with many either juggling work and childcare responsibilities, or having to leave their jobs to take care of children.
Even now that many schools have reopened, there are still quarantines and a shortage of childcare workers in the country. While there have been proposals for government help, women are being forced to make tough choices in the meantime.
For many women, this means coming face-to-face with the realities of the gender pay gap. Because their partner might make more money, women may feel that taking on the role of caregiver makes more economical sense. In fact, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that women earn 82 cents on the dollar compared to men, and that gap widens even more among women of color.
According to the report, one in three women has considered downshifting their career or leaving their jobs altogether in the past year, which is up from the one in four women stating the same thing last year.
