Supporting working parents can fix the economy. Here’s how.

Caregiving is critical economic infrastructure, yet society still treats caregivers like an afterthought. To build a stronger economy, workplaces need practical solutions that actually support working families. This episode explores real ways to fix the caregiving crisis. From flexible job design …

Why Ambitious Moms Are Burning Out at Work

Women aren’t stepping back from careers because they lack ambition. They’re being pushed out by workplaces built around the expectation that good employees have no caregiving responsibilities. This episode investigates how rigid workplaces, economic inequality, and unrealistic expectations for con…

The Housewife Myth: How Gender Roles Were Sold as Tradition

The traditional image of the stay-at-home mother didn’t emerge by chance. It was intentionally created by marketers and industry leaders to meet economic needs during America’s industrial boom. In this episode, we uncover how economic forces, and deliberate cultural messaging crafted a myth of mot…

The Mental Load is Holding Women Back. Here’s Why It Matters for the Economy.

In households across America, mothers are often the default managers of everything from medical care to education to emotional wellbeing, all while balancing paid work. Why does this enormous responsibility so often fall to women? And how is it impacting their careers and our broader economy? Car…

Why Does Becoming a Mom Still Hurt Women at Work?

When women become mothers, their careers often pay the price. Their salaries stall, promotions become scarce, and workplaces quietly start to see them as less committed employees. In this episode, we dig into why workplaces penalize women for motherhood, creating long-lasting economic consequences…

Trailer

The Work Behind The Work is a WorkingNation podcast about why raising children in America has become so difficult, and what that reveals about our entire economy. Host Melissa Panzer, an executive producer at WorkingNation and a mom, herself, will explore the growing strain of raising children in …