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Women do the majority of "thinking work" in households, regardless of their employment status or how much they earn, new research has confirmed.

In a study in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, by researchers from the University of Bath and the University of Melbourne, a study of 2,133 partnered, heterosexual U.S. parents found that the unseen mental work that organizes family life remains a constant for mothers regardless of their career or financial success.

The study comes as families in the U.K. prepare for school half term—traditionally a time when scheduling and logistical planning come to the fore.

It follows earlier work by the team which first highlighted the unequal division of the mental load between mothers and fathers. But today's findings show that even as women's careers and earnings rise, the unseen "thinking work" at home stays firmly on their shoulders.

Mothers earning more than $100,000 reported 30% less childcare and 17% less housework than those with lower incomes but do no less mental household labor because of their status. In short, mothers' physical household work is tied to their time availability and income. But while employment and high earnings reduce mothers' physical chores, they have no effect on their level of mental load.

The survey also showed that, on average, mothers have 67% more tasks on their mental to-do list—an average of 13.72 tasks, versus an average of 8.2 among fathers.

Lead author Dr. Ana Catalano Weeks, a senior lecturer in comparative politics in Bath's Department of Politics, Languages, & International Studies, says, "While paid work and higher incomes reduce women's physical housework, they do not lighten their cognitive labor. Mothers continue to shoulder the same level of 'mental load' of family life—planning, remembering, organizing—regardless of whether they have more resources or less time.

"Even as women gain economic power, they remain responsible for anticipating and coordinating household needs—tasks that are largely invisible and difficult to delegate."

'Gendered cognitive stickiness'

The research introduces the concept of "gendered cognitive stickiness" to explain this persistence. Unlike physical chores, which can be shared or outsourced—by hiring a cleaner or eating out, for example—cognitive tasks such as arranging medical appointments, tracking school deadlines, and managing family logistics, "stick" to women and are rarely renegotiated. These responsibilities often occur without clear boundaries, anytime and anywhere, making them harder to redistribute.

Co-author Dr. Helen Kowalewska, lecturer in Bath's Department of Social & Policy Sciences, adds, "Once organizational tasks are assigned to mothers—and inevitably, they usually are—they tend to stick. The findings highlight a particularly persistent and overlooked aspect of gender inequality at home, with clear consequences for women's careers and well-being.

"We hope the research prompts new conversations about how to promote genuine equality at home by recognizing and redistributing not just the physical household labor, like cooking the dinner and getting the kids ready, but the mental load that makes all this happen."

The study also notes the cultural dynamics influencing these patterns. Employed fathers report 17% less time in care, 22% less housework, and 29% less responsibility for mental load tasks, compared to fathers who are not employed. However, fathers earning more than $100,000 reported 17% more involvement in "core" mental tasks, such as arranging extracurricular activities, reflecting new norms of involved fatherhood as well as the flexibility more common in high-paying jobs. Yet these contributions do not offset mothers' overall burden.

"What's striking is how differently these dynamics play out for mothers and fathers," says Professor Leah Ruppanner from the University of Melbourne. "When mothers are employed or earn more, their physical housework drops but their mental load does not change. For fathers, employment reduces their household and cognitive work overall—but we do see that higher-earning fathers take on more of the daily mental tasks. Yet these shifts among men do little to change the broader pattern—mothers continue to shoulder the mental load at home, regardless of their status."

These findings help explain the stalled "gender revolution," which has seen progress toward gender equality plateau even as women have achieved high rates of education and workforce participation. Men's participation in household work, especially the mental load, has not kept pace—and women find little relief even if they earn high incomes or are the family breadwinner. With these burdens predominantly on women, it creates barriers for women as they try to compete against male peers in the workplace.

The authors argue that addressing cognitive labor is essential to advancing gender equality. They call for greater public awareness, policies that enable men to take on caring work, like , and for couples to more openly communicate about this invisible labor, so it can be distributed more fairly.