Canadian mothers are overstressed, feeling undervalued: women’s foundation

As moms across the country are being celebrated on Mother’s Day, a women’s non-profit says the majority of Canadian mothers are overworked, overstressed, and feeling undervalued.

The Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) says yet another year of the COVID-19 pandemic has added extra pressure on Canadian mothers, who were already feeling stressed last year.

“We tried to make sure that we listened to mothers and caregivers… because we’re celebrating them, but we have to recognize the struggles that they are facing in this pandemic with very gendered outcomes,” said Andrea Gunraj, the vice-president of public engagement at the CWF.

In a national poll, the CWF found 44 per cent of Canadian mothers surveyed have reached their breaking point. And nearly half of mothers said they were reaching their breaking point.

“So that is pretty much every mother and identified caregiver who’s saying this is really at a pressure point for them,” said Gunraj.

The poll also found 67 per cent of mothers were concerned about their physical health, and 60 per cent were concerned about their emotional well-being and their mental health.

Many mothers said they were forced to put their careers on hold as a result.

“So the toll has been really difficult,” added Gunraj. “And no wonder that two-in-five moms are saying they are putting their career on the back burner to manage their home and caregiving responsibilities.”

CityNews spoke to moms on Mother’s Day who confirmed some of the poll’s results.

“The last couple years have been stressful, just with having family members who are immune compromised and still having to go out and work myself,” said Winnipeg mother Karen Smith.

“Then it’s more jobs piled up on me, like the home schooling, and having to do my own personal work,” added mother Virginia Pateman.

Gunraj says Canada has seen an improvement when it comes to traditional gender-based roles, but there’s still a long way to go when it comes to supporting moms.

“The gender balance of caregiving and home work is really shifting as time goes on, but it’s by no means gender-balanced and women are really feeling the pressure,” she said. “And no wonder then that 30 per cent of mothers are struggling to keep up with work demands compared with 25 per cent of fathers.

“So we have some work to do to make sure the carers are cared for.”

Gunraj adds when it comes to supporting mothers, the household, community and workplace need to step up to make sure they are alleviating some of the burdens. She says Canadians also need to hold their governments accountable.

“This is a big discussion about what we need to do when it comes to voting time, what we need to do with our MPs and MPPs,” said Gunraj. “But I think about us putting care work first as we go forward, because we know when carers are doing well, we’re all doing well. When carers are struggling, we’re all going to struggle.”