Life Evaluation Slips More for U.S. Working Women Than Men

This is Part 2 of a two-part series on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working women. Part 1 focused on women's employment.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The COVID-19 pandemic has affected working women in the United States in two distinct ways. First, job losses associated with the economic shutdown have hit women harder than men, a pattern that emerged in 2020 and continued at the start of 2021. Second, the psychological toll of the pandemic appears to be greater on working women than working men, although not in all respects.

Part 1 of Gallup's two-part series on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on working women focused on the decline in women's participation in the labor market since February 2020 and the reasons behind it. This article, Part 2, looks at the emotional state of women who have been employed during the pandemic, including whether working women with children at home have faced particular difficulties because of their disproportionate role in childcare within households.

The analysis throughout this report takes into account the presence of children under 18 in households. The effect of having children under 12 was also reviewed; however, on most items the results are similar enough to having children under 18 that they are not reported.

Working Women's Subjective Wellbeing Sinks More Than Men's

Gallup measures Americans' subjective wellbeing by asking respondents to rate their current and future lives on a 0-to-10 scale based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. The combined ratings form the Gallup Life Evaluation Index, which classifies people as "thriving," "struggling" or "suffering." Respondents are considered "thriving" if they rate their current life a 7 or higher and their future life an 8 or higher. Respondents are considered "suffering" if they rate their current life 0 to 4 and their future life 0 to 4. Those who are neither "thriving" nor "suffering" are considered "struggling."

Focusing on those "struggling" or "suffering," combined, the Gallup Life Evaluation Index trends indicate that women's wellbeing has deteriorated more than men's since the pandemic began, but the presence of children in the household has not aggravated this.

In the fall of 2019, employed men and women were about equally likely to be classified as struggling or suffering (41% each). Since the pandemic began, in Gallup Panel surveys conducted from March 2020 to February 2021, the combined percentage struggling or suffering has been 47% among working women -- up six percentage points from the pre-pandemic period -- while averaging 43% among working men, up two points.

The presence of children in the household has no impact on these ratings for employed women, with equal percentages of women classified as struggling/suffering, regardless of whether they have children under 18 in the household. Among employed men, those without children under 18 are more likely to be suffering/struggling than those with children.

	Pre-COVID-19	Since COVID-19	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
Employed adults
Women	41	47	+6
Men	41	43	+2
Employed women
With children <18	40	46	+6
Without children <18	42	48	+6
Employed men
With children <18	38	38	0
Without children <18	43	45	+2
Based on U.S. adults employed full- or part-time who are not primarily self-employed. "Pre-COVID-19" data are based on Sept. 30-Oct. 14, 2019, Gallup Panel survey. "Since COVID-19" data are based on March 2020-February 2021 Gallup Panel surveys.
Gallup Panel

Working Mothers Report Greatest Life Disruption

Since the pandemic began, working women (27%) have been more likely than working men (20%) to say their life has been disrupted "a great deal" by the crisis. This sense of disruption is more common among working women with children at home, at 29%, than among women without children at home (25%) and men with (20%) or without (20%) children in the home.

Most others say their life has been affected "a fair amount," while the percentage reporting little or no effect ranges from 23% of working women with a child under 18 in the home to 36% of working men without one.

	A great deal	A fair amount	Not much	Not at all
	%	%	%	%
Employed adults
Women	27	49	22	2
Men	20	46	30	4
Employed women
With child <18	29	48	21	2
Without child <18	25	50	23	2
Employed men
With child <18	20	49	27	4
Without child <18	20	44	32	4
Based on U.S. adults employed full- or part-time who are not primarily self-employed
Gallup Panel, March 2020-February 2021

As of last summer, working women were also more likely than working men to say lockdowns and social distancing were affecting their mental health. When asked from April through August 2020 how much longer they can tolerate social distancing and business and school closures before their emotional or mental health suffers, 25% of working women versus 20% of working men reported last year that they had already experienced this harm.

Women and men with children under 18 in the household were more likely than their counterparts without children to report that their mental health was already suffering from business and school closures. As a result, women with children were the most troubled -- with 27% saying they were already suffering -- while men without children were the least, at 18%. Reported suffering of men with children (23%) and women without children (24%) was about the same.

	Already suffering	A few more weeks	A few more months	As long as necessary
	%	%	%	%
Employed adults
Women	25	10	19	45
Men	20	12	17	52
Employed women
With child <18	27	11	19	42
Without child <18	24	10	19	47
Employed men
With child <18	23	12	17	48
Without child <18	18	11	16	54
Based on U.S. adults employed full- or part-time who are not primarily self-employed
Gallup Panel, April-August 2020

Both Genders Report More Emotional Distress

Gallup data suggest the pandemic also triggered some specific negative emotions in both genders -- namely, worry and stress. While working women were more likely than working men to report having these emotions before the pandemic (in Gallup data from 2018), since the pandemic, that gap has widened slightly.

The percentage of working women saying they experienced a lot of worry in their daily life has been 12 points higher on average throughout the pandemic, compared with their self-expressed worry in 2018. That compares with a nine-point increase among working men. The presence of children in the household doesn't appear to worsen matters -- worry increased more among working women who don't have a child under 18 at home (+14) than among those who do (+10).

	Pre-COVID-19	Since COVID-19	Change
	% Yes	% Yes	pct. pts.
Employed adults
Women	40	52	+12
Men	33	42	+9
Employed women
With child <18	42	52	+10
Without child <18	38	52	+14
Employed men
With child <18	32	42	+10
Without child <18	33	42	+9
Based on U.S. adults employed full- or part-time who are not primarily self-employed. "Pre-COVID-19" data are based on 2018 Gallup Daily tracking. "Since COVID-19" data are based on March 2020-February 2021 Gallup Panel surveys.
Gallup

Worry was much higher at the start of the pandemic, exceeding 50% among employed men and 60% among employed women in March 2020. It has since fallen for both groups, but as of February 2021, it remains higher than it was before the pandemic.

Self-reported stress also increased slightly more among working women (up 10 points) than among working men (up 8 points) between 2018 and the COVID-19 era. No differences by the presence of children in the household are present here either.

	Pre-COVID-19	Since COVID-19	Change
	% Yes	% Yes	pct. pts.
Employed adults
Women	51	61	+10
Men	44	52	+8
Employed women
With child <18	54	63	+9
Without child <18	49	59	+10
Employed men
With child <18	45	54	+9
Without child <18	43	51	+8
Based on U.S. adults employed full- or part-time who are not primarily self-employed. "Pre-COVID-19" data are based on 2018 Gallup Daily tracking. "Since COVID-19" data are based on March 2020-February 2021 Gallup Panel surveys.
Gallup

Stress was also significantly higher last spring than the 2020-2021 average. However, unlike worry, stress has returned to its pre-COVID-19 level for employed men and women since January.

Men Less Burned Out at Work, While Women Unchanged

In addition to measuring worry and stress in the context of people's daily lives, Gallup specifically asks a separate question about feeling "burned out" at work.

Working women's self-reported burnout has changed little under the pandemic, as the percentage describing themselves as "always" or "very often" burned out at work shifted by only one point -- from 30% in Gallup polling in late 2019 to 31% on average throughout the pandemic. Yet, that relative stability in burnout among working women contrasts with a four-point decrease among working men, from 27% to 23%. There are no differences in these patterns by whether women or men have a child under 18 at home.

	Pre-COVID-19	Since COVID-19	Change
	% Always/Very often	% Always/Very often	pct. pts.
Employed adults
Women	30	31	+1
Men	27	23	-4
Employed women
With child <18	29	28	-1
Without child <18	30	31	+1
Employed men
With child <18	26	22	-4
Without child <18	26	23	-3
Based on U.S. adults employed full- or part-time who are not primarily self-employed. "Pre-COVID-19" data are based on Sept. 30-Oct. 14, 2019, Gallup Panel survey. "Since COVID-19" data are based on March 2020-February 2021 Gallup Panel surveys.
Gallup Panel

Gallup measures employee engagement with a proprietary survey that assesses workers' enthusiasm and psychological commitment to their jobs and workplaces.

Despite the emotional challenges wrought by COVID-19, employed women stayed just as "engaged" at work during the pandemic and grew a bit more satisfied with their place of employment. At the same time, men's positive orientation to work improved slightly on both metrics.

	Pre-COVID-19	Since COVID-19	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
Workplace engagement
Women	38	37	-1
Men	31	34	+3
Workplace satisfaction
Women	27	30	+3
Men	24	28	+4
Based on U.S. adults employed full- or part-time who are not primarily self-employed. "Pre-COVID-19" data are based on Sept. 30-Oct. 14, 2019, Gallup Panel survey. "Since COVID-19" data are based on March 2020-February 2021 Gallup Panel surveys.
Gallup Panel

Bottom Line

In addition to suffering greater job loss than men during the pandemic, women took a harder hit to their subjective wellbeing, with a slightly larger increase than men had in the percentage struggling or suffering in their daily life. Employed women also experienced slightly larger increases than employed men in stress and worry, and they were also more likely to self-report that their own mental health suffered. But there has been no change since 2019 in women's self-reported burnout at work. And, on the whole, their employee engagement and satisfaction with work are intact.

Working women with children at home report more disruption to their lives from the pandemic than the other three groups do, but this hasn't resulted in higher burnout for them at work. Still, as long as business and school closures persist, being aware of the personal challenges that employees -- especially working mothers -- face, and being flexible and supportive, may strengthen the workplace for everyone.

Learn more about how the Gallup Panel works.