Study Says Moms Multitask More

Mothers multitask more than fathers, and they feel more stressed out about it. So says a new study in the American Sociological Review. Researchers used data from a 12-year-old study of mostly college-educated parents. Most of them were professionals who worked longer than average hours. The 368 mothers and 241 fathers in the study wore special wristwatches that beeped several times during the day. They were supposed to write down whatever they were doing at that moment. They also wrote down what they were thinking and feeling. Mothers spent 48 hours of their week multitasking. Fathers spent 39 hours. For mothers, 53% of the multitasking involved household chores, compared with 42% for fathers. Mothers spent 36% of their multitasking time on child care. Fathers spent 28%. Men’s multitasking was more likely to include tasks for work or self-care.