Working mothers struggle with more guilt than working fathers

Working mothers tend to bear a greater amount of guilt than working fathers, worrying about their family in the office and their work at home, researchers from Bar-Ilan University found.

Not only can such stress hurt performance in either case, but it may also affect a woman's ability to sleep, according to the researchers.

The team derived their study details from the 500 Family Study, focused on how middle-class families strike a balance between family and professional life. In all, they examined the details of 402 American mothers and 291 fathers in dual-earner families and found that working mothers contribute one fourth - or 29 hours per week - of their waking time to mental labor, compared to working fathers' one fifth, or 24 hours.

Mental labor can be defined as worrying about something, be it work or anything related to family, that affects individuals' ability to concentrate and, in turn, perform.

"We know that mothers are the ones who usually adjust their work schedule to meet family demands, such as staying home with a sick child," said Shira Offer, lead author of the study, according to the Daily Mail. "Therefore, mothers may feel that they do not devote enough time to their job and have to 'catch up,' and, as a result, they are easily preoccupied with job-related matters outside the workplace."

She added: "This illustrates the double burden, the pressure to be 'good' mothers and 'good' workers, that working mums experience."