Survey confirms the struggle of working parents: 'No way to be two things at once'

Family Survey confirms the struggle of working parents: 'No way to be two things at once' June 16, 202610:00 AM ET Andrea Hsu Amber and Neil Petersen serve lunch to two of their children, 11-year-old Eden and 4-year-old Jack, while visiting Amber's parents in Iowa City, Iowa. Cliff Jette for NPR hide caption toggle caption Cliff Jette for NPR Sign up for the Planet Money newsletter. The world is confusing. Economics can help. Amber Petersen's struggles are likely familiar to any working parent. Some days at work, she finds herself diverted to family matters. A school nurse calls to tell her that one of her children is sick. She needs to leave work immediately. Other days, she wishes she could be chaperoning a field trip instead of scheduling meetings and putting together files at the small law firm in Mason City, Iowa, where she works as a legal assistant. "I feel like that tug of war is constantly on my mind of where I need to be — if I am missing out as a mom, or if I am disappointing somebody at work," she says. "There's just no way to be two things at once and give 100% at both." Sponsor Message A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds that struggle widespread, with two-thirds of working mothers reporting that they can't give 100% at home and just over half saying they can't give their all at work. A smaller but sizable share of fathers agree, with half reporting they can't give 100% at home, and about a third saying they can't give their all at work. The survey focused primarily on families with both a mother and a father who work full time. Petersen works as a legal assistant at a small firm in Mason City, Iowa. She can leave work on a dime if one of her children falls sick, but she has no paid sick leave so she won't get paid. Cliff Jette for NPR hide caption toggle caption Cliff Jette for NPR Living Better Most parents track their 18- to 25-year-old kids on their smartphones. Is it healthy? "We see that parents are facing lots of demands from both wor...