The stat

If you are a parent, your life is full. Action-packed. Always moving.

There is the daily grind. School. Dinner. Bath. Bedtime. And there there are all the things that happen immediately before or after:

• "But I was carrying it with both hands!"
• "It wasn't my marker."
• "He started it."
• And the classic: "Mommm! Daaaadd!"

It feels like a lot because it is a lot. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ran the numbers. And wow.

The Stat

Parents spend ~53 hours per week on

parenting and household activities. And add at least one extra hour if your kiddo is under six.

The Reality

Imagine having this conversation with your Pre-Kid self:

You: "Congrats on the baby! Just for practice next week, magic 53 extra hours into your week."

Pre-Kid You: "Huh?! You want me to add 53+ hours on top of my job and my life? That sounds crazy."

Pre-Kid You was right. It is wild. And mathematically, it doesn't add up.

Because the hours don't exist unless you multitask. So, most of this happens while you are doing everything else. Eating. Working. Brushing your teeth. 

The University of Michigan reports that working moms spend 48 hours per week multitasking.  That's roughly 43% of your day doing two things at once.

But wait, there's more. We also clock in about 30 to 32 hours per week on "invisible labor"—the planning, the organizing, the worrying.

As a parent, I can assure you: we become masters of efficiency.

So, at the end of the day, the math actually looks more like this:

• 12 hours a week: Just you and the kiddo. (The quality time you envisioned).
• 40 hours a week: Doing everything you used to do, but now with a kid in tow.
• PLUS 17 hours a week: Housework. Cooking. Cleaning. The daily rhythm.

And that 30 hours of invisible labor? That's just the background hum.

It all adds up to One Big Mental Load.

To all the parents out there, it's an impressive feat. 

References

1. Invisible Labor & Economic Value: Forbes / various 2024 economic reports on the $3.8 trillion value of invisible labor.
2. Multitasking Hours: Michigan State University / various time-use studies (finding mothers spend ~48 hours/week multitasking).
3. Parental Time Use: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), American Time Use Survey.