How to combat the invisible labor divide in your own home

There's a reason you've been so exhausted amid the pandemic — especially if you're a mom — and, luckily, it's not a problem that has no name. 

It's likely invisible labor, the notion of unpaid and unseen work that's often used to describe the particular burden faced by cisgender women in heterosexual relationships with respect to tasks like cooking meals or taking care of kids. It's gotten even worse thanks to the coronavirus, which has brought more instability than usual, economic and otherwise, along with the need to care for families at home all the time.

Take schooling: Previously, you'd have some built-in, kid-free breaks after you dropped them off at school in the morning and before you picked them up in the afternoon. While invisible labor didn't end, the schedule at least allowed for some time away from them. That's gone now. Couple that with all of the other stresses that come from living through a pandemic, and you get a pressure cooker for mothers, who are frequently taking on the bulk of these new responsibilities.  Read more...