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?

Care work isn’t instinctive. It’s assigned.
This episode looks at how caregiving roles form early and follow women into adulthood and the workplace. We travel to Bangladesh to meet the Shodagor, a river-trading community where caregiving looks very different. What can we learn from them about the mental load, gender roles, and the economic impact of invisible labor?

Featuring sociologist Barbara J. Risman, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago) and biological anthropologist Katie E. Starkweather, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago). 

Presented by WorkingNation, the nonprofit media platform focused on the future of work.

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? Care work isn&rsquo;t instinctive. It&rsquo;s assigned. This episode looks at how caregiving roles form early and follow women into adulthood and the workplace. We travel to Bangladesh to meet the Shodagor, a river-trading community where caregiving looks very different. What can we learn from them about the mental load, gender roles, and the economic impact of invisible labor? Featuring sociologist Barbara J. Risman, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago) and biological anthropologist Katie E. Starkweather, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago). Presented by WorkingNation, the nonprofit media platform focused on the future of work.

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.

Hosted by WorkingNation executive producer and working mom Melissa Panzer, the series looks at how rising costs, lack of support, and cultural expectations are pushing families to the brink. Birth rates are falling. Care is unaffordable. And the long-term consequences are already unfolding.

This is not just a parenting problem. It is a national economic warning.

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.
Hosted by WorkingNation executive producer and working mom Melissa Panzer, the series looks at how rising costs, lack of support, and cultural expectations are pushing families to the brink. Birth rates are falling. Care is unaffordable. And the long-term consequences are already unfolding.
This is not just a parenting problem. It is a national economic warning.