The unequal burden: UK working mothers bear brunt of parental stress and burnout

• New survey shows working mothers are significantly more likely to feel overwhelmed by responsibilities (64%) and experience burnout (66%) due to a lack of personal time, compared to fathers (38% and 47% respectively);
• A quarter of working parents surveyed use almost two weeks of annual leave a year to care for their children or parents;
• Working fathers are less likely to expect their employer to offer supportive policies like flexible working when returning from paternity leave (43% of working fathers vs 58% of working mothers);
• Over half (57%) of UK working parents feel it would be difficult to find another job with better policies to support working parents;
• Workplace policies that support both parents could be part of the solution for addressing challenges.

According to a new survey of over 2,000 working parents in the UK, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Deloitte UK, the inability to take time for themselves takes a significant mental toll on parents, particularly mothers. Over half of parents (57%) feel mentally exhausted or burnt out and 53% experience increased stress or anxiety.

The proportion of women whose mental health suffers is larger*, particularly when it comes to feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities (64% of women feel this way, compared to 38% of men) and feeling burnt out (66% of women and 47% men). 

Those between 25 and 44 are most likely to feel mentally exhausted or experience burnout (62%) and those between 18 and 24 are least likely to feel this way (25%). 

Working parents avoid taking sick leave

Over half of respondents (56%) said they were likely to avoid calling in sick if they had recently taken time away from work to care for someone such as a child or family member.

Jackie Henry, managing partner for people and purpose at Deloitte, commented: “Having a family and a career shouldn’t come at the cost of people’s mental health and these results show the pressure parents, particularly mothers, feel when trying to juggle their work and home lives.

“Workplace policies that support both parents could be part of the solution to this problem, creating a culture focussed on equality and helping to remove the outdated idea of mothers as default caregivers.

“Whatever support employers can offer families, it’s vital everyone, regardless of their gender, feels empowered to accept it. Parents should be able to be present for the important moments, at home as well as at work.”

Parents use paid leave for caring responsibilities

One in four parents take almost two weeks (13 days) of annual leave per year to carry out caring responsibilities. This contrasts with the amount of time they are most likely to take off for themselves e.g. rest, relaxation or mental health breaks is between one and three days (31%), with 27% unable to take any time at all for this purpose.

Women are also much more likely to use annual leave to care for someone (33%) than men (18%).

Workplace support varies based on gender and age

A majority (63%) of working parents expect their employer to offer flexible working hours and start and finish times when returning from maternity, paternity or adoption leave. However, working fathers feel they are less likely than working mothers to expect to be offered a reduction in hours or part time working (30% of men vs 52% of women); a formal flexible working request (43% of men vs 58% of women); or a phased return (31% men vs 40% of women).

When asked about the prospect of finding a job at a different organisation with better policies to support working parents, 57% feel this would be difficult. Younger generations are more optimistic about finding a new job which offers these benefits than older generations (44% of 18-24 year olds and 7% of those over 55).

Mothers feel pressure to manage emergency childcare

When it comes to changing plans at work to care for children, for example because of illness or childcare falling through, 66% of parents find it easy to do so. Of the respondents surveyed, 28% say they are expected to manage this themselves and 24% say their employer expects it to be shared equally between them and their partner. Working parents feel employers are more than twice as likely to expect women to personally manage last-minute childcare issues themselves, rather than men. Of those whose employers expect them to manage last minute childcare, 39% are working mothers but only 16% are working fathers. Similarly, of those who said their partner was expected to take responsibility, 19% were men and only 4% were women.

Anna Whitehouse, campaigner for flexible working and parental rights, commented:

“Behind every last-minute nursery call, sick day scramble or ‘can you leave early?’ text, there is too often a mother expected to absorb the impact. Flexibility isn’t a perk, it’s the difference between families coping and burning out. When workplaces recognise that caring responsibilities don’t fit neatly into 9-5, everyone benefits. Parents stay in work, children are better supported and businesses retain talented people. Parenting isn’t a side hustle to our jobs, it’s the biggest part of our lives, and working culture needs to catch up with that reality.”

ENDS

*Wellbeing effects listed of being unable to take time for themselves were: Increased stress or anxiety; feeling mentally exhausted or burnt out; lower mood or irritability; difficulty switching off or relaxing; reduced motivation or enjoyment in day-to-day life; feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities; no noticeable impact; other and not sure.

Percentages for working mothers were higher across all categories apart from “no noticeable impact” (17% of working fathers vs 7% of working mothers), “other” (2% across both genders) and “not sure” (5% of men vs 4% of women).

Notes to editors

About the survey

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size for this survey was 2066 working parents aged 18-55+. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd April - 5th May 2026.  The survey was carried out online.

About Deloitte’s policies to support families

• In October 2022, Deloitte announced significant enhancements to its maternity and adoption and surrogacy policy, increasing the time off at full pay to 26 weeks and making this a day-one right. The eligibility criteria for Deloitte’s paternity leave policy, with full pay for four weeks, was also changed to a day-one right.  In 2025, the new policy of 26 weeks' fully paid family leave became a day-one right for all parents.

Deloitte policies announced in September 2024:

• Deloitte introduced a new family leave policy that equalises pay for all parents, which is 26 weeks of full pay from 1 January 2025.
• Strengthened support for those undergoing fertility treatment by giving paid time off for fertility appointments.
• Additional paid leave for parents whose child requires neonatal care for up to 12 weeks.
• Increased support for carers by offering our people with long-term caregiving roles the opportunity to take up to an additional one week of paid leave per year.

• This is in addition to our existing support for working parents, including:

• Our Working Parents Transitions Programme helps parents and their team leaders manage the transition into parenthood as smoothly as possible.
• If an employee’s primary childcare or eldercare arrangements have fallen through unexpectedly, we provide emergency back-up care, for example: a day at nursery, a childminder, holiday club or home carer.  We offer five fully-subsidised and five part-subsidised sessions per year.
• Deloitte’s Working Families network connects parents, prospective parents and carers across the firm so they can share best practices, resources, ideas, information, or simply swap stories.
• Deloitte’s diversity networks offer informal peer support for parents, including Proud Families, the Neurodiversity Network, and Workability.
• Our hybrid working approach reflects our shared values and our firm fundamentals and is built on two-way open and honest conversations around what will enable our people to do their best work, while meeting the expectations of our clients and leaders.
• We also offer various formal flexible working arrangements such as part-time working and annualised term time working.
• Deloitte’s Time Out scheme enables our people to take a four-week period of unpaid leave once a year, for any reason, at a time that suits them and the business. Our aim is to ensure that all our people are able to balance their lives outside work with a successful and fulfilling career.
• Our Ways of Working Framework is a tool to support open and honest conversations about ways of working preferences. It's a way for our teams to discuss hybrid ways of working and to collectively agree an approach that works for everyone.