If you are a mom and feel parenting is more stressful for you than your male partner, you are not the only one. According to a new study from Cornell University sociologists, women reported feeling more emotionally strained while spending time with kids than their male counterparts. This means that moms are more involved than dads in the not-so-fun parts of raising the child.
Why does that happen?
Most moms spend more time on basic childcare and related chores while men spend more time playing and doing other fun activities with their kids. Mothers also experience more sleep disruptions and get less leisure time with their kids as compared to their fathers.
It’s not that moms do not enjoy with their kids, but they feel more strained as compared to the fathers.
The study
The study collected data from more than 12,000 parents of kids under 18 years. The study asked men and women to record what they felt and what they were doing during three random periods of the day.
The study looked at how parents felt while doing activities with their children and compared them to how they felt doing the same activity without their kids.
Compared with men, women had lower levels of happiness and more stress and fatigue during the time when they were with kids.
The research also showed that much of the time dads spend with children was when moms were present too, which means that men have to deal with solo parenting responsibilities less often than women.