Study Warns Women Face Higher Risk Of ‘Digital Overload’ Due To ‘Double Burden’‌

The research team used data from the European Social Survey and looked at how people maintain digital communication for work and family. THIRDMAN VIA PEXELS.

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KAMLOOPS, British Columbia — Women are at far greater risk of “digital overload” than men, warns a new study.

Moms in particular are more likely than men to frequently use information and communication technologies (ICT) in both work and family lives, say scientists.

The “digital double burden” of juggling work and family life heightens the potential risk of “digital overload” and “burnout” for women, according to their findings.

And working from home more regularly since the COVID-19 pandemic has seen the “digital double burden” falling disproportionately on women’s shoulders.

Researchers say the study – published in the journal Community, Work and Family – has “important” implications for the “unequal” gender division of digital labor,

Professor Yang Hu, of Lancaster University, worked with Professor Yue Qian, from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and examined gender and digital labor across 29 countries, including the UK.

Digital labor involves the use of various digital tools and platforms, such as Zoom and WhatsApp, for completing everyday work and domestic tasks.

As the pandemic accelerated the progress of digitalization, people increasingly used ICT for work and family communication.

Professor Hu said: “As frequent ICT use takes time and effort, it constitutes a new form of labor.

“Our study examined gender inequalities in the performance of such digital labor.”