But there is still a long way to go.Only 27% of American employers offered paid parental leave in 2019. That may be up from 17% in 2016, but still leaves a lot of mothers uncovered.Even where leave is available, many women don’t take full advantage.A survey of female tech-industry employees in 2018 found that 44% of women who had taken maternity leave had taken off less time than their entitlementbecause they thought a longer break would damage their careers.Working mothers are still overloaded.Mothers who are employed full-time spend nearly two-thirds more of their day feeding, bathing and caring for their children (under six) than their employed husbands do.They still struggle with guilt.One executive was on the phone with an important client in her locked office, only for an impatient toddler to bang on the door and repeatedly scream, “You don’t love me.”Unsurprisingly, a study found that chronic stress levels are 40% higher in women who are employed and bringing up two children than in childless working women.Worse still, female employees routinely toiling more than 60 hours a week were more than three times as likely to develop heart disease, cancer or diabetes than those on a conventional 40-hour schedule.Despite the advances made by female executives, things are even more difficult for the vast majority of working mothers.Many work in smaller businesses, where maternity benefits and flexible hours are less likely to be available.Many are in low-paid jobs, or in sectors like health care and retailing, where it has been impossible to work remotely during the pandemic.
