Equal Opportunity

Legacy Study 2023: The invisible burden of women

arbeitsplatz_praesenzarbeit_h-brs_foto_m_schulz_3.jpg (DE)

Tuesday 30 May 2023

What is the situation in our society regarding the compatibility of family and career? The Social Science Research Center Berlin conducts representative surveys at regular intervals, such as the 2023 "Legacy Study: The Invisible Burden of Women" (Allmendinger/Hipp/Wetzel 2023), in which the topic of mental load was addressed for the first tim
To the legacy study
Results of the study include:
  • The organization of household, family and leisure activities is predominantly the responsibility of women, and only three of a total of 21 queried tasks are predominantly the responsibility of men: repairs, manual work and finances.
  • Childcare and activities such as cleaning, washing and shopping are performed exclusively or predominantly by women.
  • 78% of men say mental care work is fairly distributed. Only 55% of women feel the same way.
  • Fathers say they want a relationship based on partnership, but the majority take only the minimum amount of parental leave, i.e., two "father months," usually still with their partner.
  • Women and men are confronted with different evaluation standards: Men who take their spouse's last name are perceived as less career-oriented than men who keep their last name. For women, the choice of name does not matter - they are generally perceived to be less career-oriented than men because of their gender.
  • The desire to have children of their own is declining more strongly among women than among men. Today, women perceive children as a hurdle to an equal life more than in past years.

Conclusion of the Equal Opportunities Commissioner:

"For a society undergoing demographic change, the results are alarming: it is not the choice of subject or good grades, but the choice of partner or the partner's conscious decision to take on responsibility that determines whether women with the onset of motherhood can advance in their careers on an equal footing, prevent their own poverty in old age or pursue self-determined career paths. A career tip for young women must therefore be: Look for men who will unconditionally take on half of the previously unpaid care work. The obvious tip for men who want to have children: do half and take on responsibility, then it will work out better with the offspring."
portraet barbara hillen sta 20230224 foto juri kuestenmacher