uaetodaynews.com — Female Teachers Experience Worse Work-Life Balance Than Male Colleagues – The 74
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Lack of job flexibility, overload of household duties and less time for personal life have caused female teachers to experience worse work-life balance than males, according to a new RAND Corp. survey.
The reportreleased Tuesday morning, used data from 1,419 educators who took the 2025 State of the American Teacher Survey. It found that female teachers — who make up 75% of American educators — are more likely than males to experience challenges that make it harder to juggle work and their personal lives.
Nearly three-quarters of female educators said it was somewhat or very difficult to change their schedule to accommodate personal matters, compared with 62% of male teachers. About 63% of female teachers and 48% of male educators reported it was hard to take a personal phone call during work hours.
than half of female teachers said they were frequently or always too tired for activities in their private life because of their job. Only 27% of male teachers reported the same. About 44% of women said they worry about work when they aren’t at school, versus 33% of men.
A main factor that could contribute to the gender gap is the number of hours spent on household duties, including caring for children, according to the survey. Female teachers with children reported they spend 41 hours on chores and child care, versus 30 hours for male teachers with kids. The men also reported having more time for themselves, spending 45 hours on leisure activities. Female teachers with children clocked only 33 hours.
“One of the really big drivers of challenges with job flexibility and its relationship to well-being is the amount of time that teachers, particularly female teachers, spend on household duties, particularly child care, outside of working hours,” said Elizabeth Steiner, a survey co-author.
The RAND study also compared teacher data with findings from the 2025 American Life Panelwhich polled 507 adults who have a bachelor’s degree and work similar hours. The nonprofit found that educators experienced a worse work-life balance than the other adults.
than 70% of educators said changing work schedules to accommodate personal or family matters was somewhat or very difficult, compared with 22% of similar working adults. Educators spent on average 25 hours per week on household duties, while other adults used only 16 hours.
Teachers also got the short end of the stick with benefits, according to the survey. than half of educators and a third of adults with other careers said they received average benefit packages — paid sick leave, retirement, health insurance and personal time off. But only 29% of teachers received above-average benefits, compared with 49% of similar working adults.
“When teachers reported better benefits packages — things that included, for example, paid parental leave or slightly more days of paid time off — they reported fewer work-life balance challenges and better well-being,” Steiner said.
Paid parental leave is a key benefit that could boost job satisfaction for educators, she said. Only 30% of teachers with children said their schools offer paid parental leave that was separate from other time off.
“ districts are offering it and paying attention to how important it is, but it is not universal,” Steiner said. “When paid parental leave isn’t available, teachers tend to use the paid leave that they have access to (for) time off to care for their new children, which leaves them with little to no paid leave when they return to work to address things like their own mental health or doctor’s appointments.”
The survey results link insufficient work-life balance to poor well-being for teachers. RAND research published in June found that 2 out of 3 teachers experience job-related stress, and more than half feel burned out.
In an open-ended survey question, teachers were asked to describe what their school or district could do to help them balance work and home responsibilities. than half said they couldn’t come up with an answerbecause “their school or district did not provide any support to help them achieve this balance.”
The rest said job flexibility could improve work-life balance. Respondents suggested that schools consider mental health or wellness days, adjustable work hours and opportunities for using planning periods to address personal matters. Some said taking days off in smaller increments or allowing occasional remote work hours would help.
“Teachers said that it was helpful when school leaders helped them set work boundaries, such as limiting meetings and minimizing administrative work, and messaged an expectation that teachers keep work at work,” the report said. “(These) could be a low-cost way for school leaders to help improve teachers’ work-life balance.”
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Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
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Author: Lauren Wagner
Published on: 2025-10-14 16:01:00
Source: www.the74million.org
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Sign up for The 74 Newslettern n n n nLack of job flexibility, overload of household duties and less time for personal life have caused female teachers to experience worse work-life balance than males, according to a new RAND Corp. survey.nnnnThe reportreleased Tuesday morning, used data from 1,419 educators who took the 2025 State of the American Teacher Survey. It found that female teachers — who make up 75% of American educators — are more likely than males to experience challenges that make it harder to juggle work and their personal lives. nnnnnnnnNearly three-quarters of female educators said it was somewhat or very difficult to change their schedule to accommodate personal matters, compared with 62% of male teachers. About 63% of female teachers and 48% of male educators reported it was hard to take a personal phone call during work hours.nnnnMore than half of female teachers said they were frequently or always too tired for activities in their private life because of their job. Only 27% of male teachers reported the same. About 44% of women said they worry about work when they aren’t at school, versus 33% of men. nnnnntttnttttntttnttRand Corp.nnnnA main factor that could contribute to the gender gap is the number of hours spent on household duties, including caring for children, according to the survey. Female teachers with children reported they spend 41 hours on chores and child care, versus 30 hours for male teachers with kids. The men also reported having more time for themselves, spending 45 hours on leisure activities. Female teachers with children clocked only 33 hours.nnnn“One of the really big drivers of challenges with job flexibility and its relationship to well-being is the amount of time that teachers, particularly female teachers, spend on household duties, particularly child care, outside of working hours,” said Elizabeth Steiner, a survey co-author.nnnnRelatedAs Teacher Burnout Deepens, States Scramble to Fill Job VacanciesnnnnThe RAND study also compared teacher data with findings from the 2025 American Life Panelwhich polled 507 adults who have a bachelor’s degree and work similar hours. The nonprofit found that educators experienced a worse work-life balance than the other adults. nnnnMore than 70% of educators said changing work schedules to accommodate personal or family matters was somewhat or very difficult, compared with 22% of similar working adults. Educators spent on average 25 hours per week on household duties, while other adults used only 16 hours. nnnnRelatedNew Study: Female Teachers Much More Stressed, Burned Out Than Male ColleaguesnnnnTeachers also got the short end of the stick with benefits, according to the survey. More than half of educators and a third of adults with other careers said they received average benefit packages — paid sick leave, retirement, health insurance and personal time off. But only 29% of teachers received above-average benefits, compared with 49% of similar working adults. nnnn“When teachers reported better benefits packages — things that included, for example, paid parental leave or slightly more days of paid time off — they reported fewer work-life balance challenges and better well-being,” Steiner said.nnnnPaid parental leave is a key benefit that could boost job satisfaction for educators, she said. Only 30% of teachers with children said their schools offer paid parental leave that was separate from other time off.nnnn“More districts are offering it and paying attention to how important it is, but it is not universal,” Steiner said. “When paid parental leave isn’t available, teachers tend to use the paid leave that they have access to (for) time off to care for their new children, which leaves them with little to no paid leave when they return to work to address things like their own mental health or doctor’s appointments.”nnnnThe survey results link insufficient work-life balance to poor well-being for teachers. RAND research published in June found that 2 out of 3 teachers experience job-related stress, and more than half feel burned out. nnnnIn an open-ended survey question, teachers were asked to describe what their school or district could do to help them balance work and home responsibilities. More than half said they couldn’t come up with an answer because “their school or district did not provide any support to help them achieve this balance.” nnnnThe rest said job flexibility could improve work-life balance. Respondents suggested that schools consider mental health or wellness days, adjustable work hours and opportunities for using planning periods to address personal matters. Some said taking days off in smaller increments or allowing occasional remote work hours would help.nnnn“Teachers said that it was helpful when school leaders helped them set work boundaries, such as limiting meetings and minimizing administrative work, and messaged an expectation that teachers keep work at work,” the report said. “(These) could be a low-cost way for school leaders to help improve teachers’ work-life balance.”nn n n n Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. 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Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
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