The Political Consequences of the Mental Load

How do levels of cognitive household labor -- the ``mental load'' involved in anticipating, fulfilling, and monitoring household needs -- affect political engagement? The mental load is distinct from the physical tasks of e.g., cooking and cleaning, and thought to be disproportionately undertaken by women. I argue that women have higher mental loads than men, and large mental loads decrease political engagement. To test this argument, I field a descriptive survey on politics and household work to a representative sample of parents in the United States. I find that mothers report being mostly responsible for 72 percent of cognitive household labor, compared to fathers' 45 percent. High levels of the mental load decrease certain forms of political engagement, including interest in national issues and discussion with friends and family, especially among mothers. The findings offer new evidence about a gender gap too often hidden, and its consequences for political life. In addition to presenting my existing survey research on the mental load among parents in the US and how it relates to political engagement, I will present ideas for extending this research to other countries in a comparative approach.