Share the Invisible Family Load

Summer months come with two important features for families. First, May and June include helpful calendar reminders to shower moms and dads with heartfelt gratitude. Second, and more consequentially, the summer months correspond with major shifts in childcare demands.

Kids may be bursting with excitement about months without classrooms and homework, but summer means that many parents have to manage their kids’ physical, social, and intellectual needs 24-7. This is a big responsibility that takes time, mental effort, and emotional energy.

What Is the Invisible Family Load?

A recent paper by Julie Wayne and her colleagues, published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, introduced the term invisible family load. The researchers proposed this term to describe the “managerial, cognitive, and emotional load activities" required "to address family’s needs, goals, activities, responsibilities, and/or well-being."

Examples of the managerial component include things like making arrangements for family members (e.g., registering for summer camp or summer school) and supervising family members' needs (e.g., making sure lunches are made and water bottles are in backpacks). Examples of the cognitive part of invisible family load include planning and remembering family members’ needs (e.g., making a mental to-do list). The emotional load component involves feelings of stress or anxiety about family needs.

Who Is Responsible for the Invisible Family Load? Moms

In these summer months, a critical question facing families is who is responsible for these tasks. Or, in other words, who takes on this invisible family load? The researchers expected and found strong evidence that—in dual-earner, heterosexual couples—moms are more likely to take on these tasks than dads. Indeed, analyses of survey responses of 448 working adults showed that women report higher levels of all three types of load than men.

This evidence of gender differences is consistent with sociological studies that assess more visible aspects of childcare: Women tend to spend significantly more time on child-related tasks than men. This pattern may be preferred by some families, but men’s involvement in childcare (both the invisible and visible kinds) tends to be correlated with a variety of positive outcomes such as kids’ well-being and academic achievement as well as moms’ health and advancement at work.

Acknowledging not only the visible, but also the invisible requirements of family life may be an important first step toward creating a system that works for your family this summer and all year round.