Invisible Labor: The Cost of Invisible Work

Invisible labor is a term to describe household chores people often do not recognize because they are so common. Examples of invisible labor include dishwashing, laundry, childcare, caregiving for elderly parents, organizing appointments and schedules, grocery shopping, and cooking dinner. Any household management task that helps a home run smoothly falls under the category of invisible labor.

In the majority of heterosexual United States American households, invisible labor tasks fall mainly on the woman of the house. Across the globe, women complete three out of every four hours of invisible labor, according to a report by the United Nations.

The impact of invisible labor is not restricted to the domestic sphere. The idea of invisible labor is also apparent within the workplace, as women typically volunteer for unpaid, time-consuming kinds of work that maintain office culture, such as organizing office birthday parties and team-building social events.

The term “invisible labor” is a variation on “invisible work,” which was the name of a 1987 essay by sociologist Arlene Daniels, who was a professor at Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley. Her essay defined invisible work as the unnoticed and unpaid labor that becomes a mental load for those responsible.

Daniels’s writings inspired other significant works, such as the book Invisible labor: Hidden Work in the Contemporary World, which Marion Crain, Winifred Poster, and Miriam Cherry edited (with a foreword by distinguished sociologist Arlie Hochschild). In the publication, scholars discuss what constitutes work and why some types of work are invisible.

Invisible labor divides a workload unevenly, placing additional tasks and pressures on a specific individual or group of individuals. The extra amount of work is not only exhausting for a person but also detrimental to their overall well-being. Invisible labor becomes an emotional labor, as the affected individuals might feel undervalued when others do not notice or acknowledge their work.

Psychologists studying the uneven distribution of household work have found invisible labor results in feelings of emptiness, which are harmful for mental health. For instance, the decision-making responsibility of a child’s life can become overwhelming. When one parent must make all the child-rearing decisions alone, it can result in feelings of stress, resentment, and exhaustion.

Solutions for combating types of labor disparities involve participating in productive conversations and rotating schedules that divide the workload. Here are a few ways you can start to improve an invisible labor situation:

1. 1. Divide the household tasks. Consider your daily tasks for maintaining your household or workplace and generate a list of all the chores. After you’ve created a list, write down who currently completes each task. This will help you determine the scope of the invisible labor within your household or workplace.
2. 2. Make a schedule. Create a schedule that divides the workload evenly among family members so you are sharing the responsibility for household chores. Offices can also make a schedule that rotates the responsibility of extra work, giving everyone the chance to help out. A simple schedule helps prevent the burden of invisible labor from falling on the same person and can reduce the disparities unpaid work causes.
3. 3. Shift the paradigm. One of the main catalysts behind invisible labor in the household is the traditional association of women and household work. The idea it’s the woman’s sole responsibility to maintain a household and raise children perpetuates the cycle of invisible labor. Engaging in conversations that dispute these stereotypes can help shift the paradigm and change the way individuals view the division of work.

Recognizing invisible labor can be difficult; however, in recent years, many of the social problems stemming from invisible labor have come to light. You can recognize invisible labor by reviewing your household’s or office’s division of “extra” tasks.

Determine who completes any care work, house chores, or volunteer office assignments that involve hard work and planning. This is a simple way to determine whether the responsibility of invisible labor tasks is falling on a single person.

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