Turns Out, a Day With Kids Is Harder Than One At Work

Although there are new tendencies to take into account, when women start working more and men spend more time at home, the long-lasting pattern still holds. Even in 2020, on average, men work twice as much as women do. But women spend twice as much time on childcare and housework.

Here at Bright Side, we’ve discovered an interesting study that sheds light on what’s easily the hardest job in existence. And, of course, we couldn’t help but want to share what we learned with you.

On average, men work 40.5 hours a week, while women only work 23 hours.

And women, at the same time, spend 13.5 hours a week on childcare in comparison to the 7 hours that men typically spend. Additionally, they almost double the time spent on housework: 17.5 hours in comparison to the 10 hours men spend.

After looking over the study, it seems like taking care of kids is more exhausting than traditional work. Parents find 12% of all childcare activities very tiring. At the same time, they claim that just 5% of tasks done at work is tiring. Childcare, overall, seems to be one of the most exhausting activities people perform, even more so than housework.

Surprisingly, all the activities are more exhausting for women than they are for men. Mothers say that they feel very tired during 15% of the childcare activities they perform. In comparison, fathers feel this way about 6% of the activities.

Moms and dads do different kinds of things with their kids.

This is probably the reason why women feel more tired at home with the kids. While a father and a mother are equally engaged in activities with their children, women are more engaged in physical activities like healthcare, feeding, and dressing. They’re also more often invested in their children’s educational activities, are more likely to be responsible for planning, and it’s usually the moms that attend all the necessary social events.

Still, taking care of kids is very rewarding.

Although it’s exhausting, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the most meaningful activities and is held dear both by men and women. 62% of the Americans in the study who had children under the age of 18 found their activities with kids very meaningful. At the same time, only 36% of them said the same thing about their job.

Parents feel happier about childcare activities over work-related things. In fact, while caring for a child, people are, on average, just slightly less happy than they during their leisure time. Still, on average, mothers seem to experience a higher level of happiness while taking care of a child than fathers do.

What about you? Do you feel more tired after spending a day at work or after watching the kids? What’s your favorite activity do to with your children?