The research found that when it comes to doing unpaid work like childcare, eldercare and household chores, women carry most of the burden — doing over four hours of unpaid care work daily compared to over two hours for men.Dr. Susan Madsen, director of the Utah Women and Leadership Project, attributed the imbalance partly to the state's conservative and religious culture.The research reveals that the discrepancy in unpaid caregiving isn't confined to households with stay-at-home mothers.
"I think the importance is that it's meaningful work. It has to be done for us to have families, to progress," Madsen said. Madsen hoped her findings will also inspire greater respect for women who balance part-time jobs with caregiving responsibilities — a common scenario in Utah, which has a slightly higher number of women in the labor force compared to other states. Most of those women work part time.
Aside from the disparity in physical caregiving, Madsen said women shoulder most of the emotional care work in households too. That includes everything from scheduling doctor appointments to making plans.