In today’s fast-paced world, many women find themselves grappling with an invisible yet overwhelming burden known as the mental load. This is the often unrecognised mental work required to keep a household and family life functioning – from organising childcare and planning healthy meals to researching fun activities.
Leah Ruppanner, a professor of sociology at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and author of the book Drained, explains that there’s not one form of mental load, however, but eight different types. From “magic making” to “meta-care”, she says many of these are “boundaryless” and enduring. While men are taking on more at home, women are still overwhelmingly burdened by this hidden work, which can often result in burnout.
