Working Moms: How Do They Do It? With Help From Family, Coffee, and Wine

In an article released by Working Mother, it appears that the average working mother with children is spending 98 hours per week at both her paid workforce position as well as caring for duties at home, according to a recent study. What does this mean? It means that the majority of these moms are working the equivalent of two full-time jobs, and barely getting paid to scale for one. The study, completed by Welch’s, went on to report that the average mother begins her day at approximately 6:23 a.m. and doesn’t finish with either work or family-related duties until roughly 8:31 p.m. That’s the equivalent of a 14-hour shift.

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According to Casey Lewis, MS, RD and Health & Nutrition Lead at Welch’s, “The results of the survey highlight just how demanding the role of mom can be and the non-stop barrage of tasks it consists of.” In a report by Working Mother Research Institute, it’s been identified that working mothers continue to take on the majority of household chores, most notably with respect to childcare. And, regardless of the fact that many fathers are doing more household work these days, CNBC identified that “being the family’s primary earner doesn’t lighten the load for women.”

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This would explain why 40 percent of moms surveyed by Welch’s felt that their life was a “never-ending series of tasks,” with many of them claiming to have an average of a little over an hour to themselves each day. With these ever-growing numbers due to the cost of living and varying pay scales across the nation, working moms manage to multitask and power through, because they need to. But, what is it that keeps them moving forward despite the daily strain on their time? Participants of the Welch’s study gave thanks to such things as coffee, wet wipes, Netflix, the support from grandparents and babysitters, and, yes, wine. So, to all of you hard working moms out there, cheers. Welch’s may not make great wine, but Texas does, and here at home you can be sure the best of the Lone Star State can be found at your local Kroger on your way home from that full-time job, and just before picking up the kids at daycare, prior to getting home and starting dinner and laundry. It’s exhausting just typing that. Our hats off to you ladies!