55: Working Mom Exodus 2025 | Part 4: Mental Load & Burnout

 

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Working Mom Exodus of 2025 | Part 4: Mental Load & Burnout

76% of workers are more stressed than two years ago. 50% of working women report deteriorating mental health.

And here’s what should make you furious: The #1 cause of burnout isn’t your messy life—it’s unmanageable workloads. The structure of work itself is breaking people.

Your employer’s offering of wellness stipends and meditation apps? A Lyra Health study found that 65% of workers say their mental health interferes with work—but only 25% say their employer’s resources actually help. Three-quarters are saying “thanks, but no thanks.”

What if everything they’re offering is just treating symptoms while ignoring the disease?

In Episode 55, you’ll DISCOVER:

  • ✔️ Why women are driving 70% of all mental health leaves
  • ✔️ What “the mental load” really is (and why it’s exhausting you)
  • ✔️ The data employers don’t want to face about their wellness solutions
  • ‍ ✔️ 5 ways job sharing fundamentally supports mental health
  • ‍✔️ Why 96% of job sharers report the flexibility they need for work-life balance vs.~70% for other flexible work practices
  • ✔️ What Fair Play is—and why job sharing is like the work version that flows home
  • ✔️ My truth: I never felt burnout while job sharing. Never.

The Mental Load Explained

It’s not just doing the laundry. It’s the constant, never-ending mental checklist running in the background of your brain at all times—remembering your kid needs new cleats, scheduling dentist appointments, knowing when school picture day is. Even in meetings. Even trying to sleep.

Research shows mothers still shoulder the vast majority of this invisible cognitive labor. And it’s exhausting.

Why Job Sharing Is Different

Job sharing isn’t just another flexible work option—it’s mental health infrastructure.

  • Real recovery time: 4 consecutive days off every week—not weekend recovery interrupted by Sunday scaries.
  • Sustainable workloads: Two people sharing what’s legitimately too big for one person.
  • Built-in support: Your partner steps in when life throws curveballs.
  • Cognitive load sharing: Two minds tackling complex problems instead of one overwhelmed brain.
  • Growth without burnout: You level up faster learning from someone invested in your success.

And 87% of job sharers say it was the difference between staying and leaving their company. That’s lifetime loyalty for employers.

What Surprised Me Most

Job sharing doesn’t just change how you work—it organically changes how you parent and partner at home. You learn to give up control, trust your partner’s way, and share the mental load without fighting about it.

Fair Play without ever reading the book.

The Data Update

When we started this series, BLS data showed 212,000 women left the workforce in the first 7 months of 2025. October data reveals it’s far worse—450,000 women have left. We need real solutions, not band-aids.

What Comes Next:

Featured Research:

Resources & Links Mentioned:

More From Me:

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Melissa Nicholson job shared for nearly a decade and is the Founder & CEO of Work Muse. Work Muse drives the adoption of job sharing in business as a source of competitive advantage while helping individuals find work-life balance. Join the #JobshareRevolution here.

 

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