Co-Director Kathryn Emerick, MD
photo: Jamie Manser
“Invisible labor” is a term used to describe the unseen tasks and responsibilities involved in managing a household and family. It’s generally defined as tasks that aren’t traditionally recognized as “work” but require significant time, energy, and emotional investment. Invisible labor includes things like buying groceries, but more insidiously includes all of the cognitive labor- meal planning, knowing what is in the fridge vs what needs to be bought to make those meals, knowing how long grocery shopping takes and thus where it can fit into the family schedule, deciding what night to make which meal, what time dinner needs to be started to have it ready on time and on and on. This invisible labor is often unnoticed and because it doesn’t come with a paycheck, there can be little recognition or appreciation of the endless work completed. Much of this labor falls on women and this imbalance, sense of invisibility and increased stress takes a toll on women’s mental health.
Invisible Labor and the Links to Mental Health
Burnout: Constantly juggling multiple responsibilities can lead to burnout. The unrelenting pressure of being in charge of playdates, dishes, appointments, answering school emails, managing family calendar and solving conflicts can lead to feelings of exhaustion and hopelessness.
Lack of Acknowledgment: When work that takes up hours of every day goes unrecognized, it can create a sense of isolation and invisibility which can lead to irritability, resentment, and deterioration of relationships.
Imbalance in Work-Life Balance: People who complete a disproportionate amount of invisible labor often struggle to balance work, family, and personal interests. The sacrifice that is made is most often personal interests, things that bring joy, creativity, and levity to life.
Reduced Time for Self-Care: In constantly being busy with invisible labor, there is less time for activities that promote mental health, such as exercise, hobbies, spending time with friends, reading, meditating. (I’d like to note here that taking a shower or grocery shopping by yourself is NOT self-care time.)
Increased Pressure and Expectations: Societal expectations often place a heavy burden on women to be the primary caretakers and homemakers. There are significant social expectations on how a house should be run and should look and the burden for meeting these expectations often falls on women. We have research that supports this: that a messy home is judged more harshly when the owner is identified as a woman compared to a man. The pressures to meet these expectations, especially in the setting of social media where people view curated and perfect versions of lives, can contribute to anxiety and low self-esteem.
Reducing the burden of invisible labor requires a collective effort to redistribute responsibilities, acknowledge the work being done, and create a more balanced approach to household and family tasks.
If you are interested in learning more about how families can rebalance the workload and make the invisible work visible, please join us for our free screening of Fair Play! This documentary makes the invisible care work historically held by women visible, inspiring a more balanced future for all. We are hosting this free screening to bring to light the significant challenges mothers face and to have a post-film community discussion.
As part of our commitment to supporting mothers and families, we are offering free tickets to the Tucson Children's Museum for kids and one adult during the event. We hope, between offering the screening for free and tickets to TCM, we can remove any attendance barriers families may usually face.
- "Fair Play" Documentary & Panel Discussion
- Sunday, May 19, 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
- The Screening Room, 125 E. Congress St.
- RSVP for film and tickets to the children's museums at: apal.arizona.edu/fair-play