What really stresses mothers? The German Youth Institute examined a mom's stress in a study – and produced surprising results on the real stress factors.
The child in your arms, screaming, you haven't showered yourself, a kitchen full of dishes, a mailbox full of unanswered e-mails – and then your cell phone rings. If you are a mother (or father), you often want a few extra arms when the baby is born. After all, the little, no matter how cute, family member demands constant attention. Just like personal hygiene, the household, the job, the partner and social life.
People often redefine the word "stress" after the birth of a child. But what is it actually that really gets the pulse racing? The German Youth Institute has addressed this question. One study examined the stress factors in the life of a working mother. So much can be revealed: The balancing act between work and family did not play the greatest role.
A quarter of all mothers have high levels of stress
Half of the mothers questioned had a medium stress level, a quarter even a high to very high level. When researching the causes, however, something surprising could be discovered: The extent of employment, i.e. the number of hours worked, hardly influenced the perception of stress.
For one thing, financial bottlenecks worried the mothers. On the other hand, emotional factors played a role: family members in need of care and too little time for common rituals in the family emerged as real stress factors.
Stress from old role models – and their obligations
One aspect that the researchers dedicated themselves to is particularly exciting: the stress caused by household and so-called care work can be reduced by men – but only if they relieve their wife to the right extent. If men took over the majority of the household, women in turn felt stressed by the imbalance – even when they worked harder.
"Mothers seem not to be able to free themselves from traditional role models, which assign them the main responsibility for care work," explains Dr. Claudia Zerle-Elsäßer from the German Youth Institute presented the study results.
In fact, it seems to be the traditional role model that is anchored in the minds of mothers to this day and causes permanent stress there. Only if both partners fully and completely decided on a model in which the mother works more – and the husband runs the household – such stress factors can be resolved. However, this should not arise from economic constraints, but from the real conviction of both parties. Therefore, Dr. Zerle-Elsäßer on the basis of the study results in particular, "a greater social acceptance of non-standard models of the division of labor in families". Because then, at some point, women might one day take off their guilty conscience when it is they who come home after a hard day's work – and the man has done the household.
used source: German Youth Institute