She Keeps the World Turning

Reflecting on the mental load, caregiving, and the quiet labour behind life’s transitions this International Women's Day.

Each year, when International Women's Day arrives, we pause to celebrate women whose achievements are easy to see.

We recognize leaders who break barriers, scholars whose discoveries move knowledge forward, athletes who redefine strength, and activists who reshape the world. These accomplishments matter deeply. They deserve to be celebrated.

And yet, beyond these visible achievements lies another kind of work, older, quieter, and no less essential.

Much of women’s labour happens in places that rarely appear on stages or in headlines.

It happens quietly, behind the scenes, in the everyday work of care.

Women often carry what is now called the mental load, the invisible planning, remembering, anticipating, and organizing that keeps families and communities functioning. It is the work of noticing what needs to be done before anyone else sees it. It is coordinating appointments, managing households, holding emotional space for others, and keeping track of the thousand small details that allow life to move forward.

This work is rarely recognized as an accomplishment. Yet it is foundational.

Much of this labour also unfolds during times of transition.

Transitions shape every life: the arrival of a child, the fragile months of the postpartum period, illness within a family, changes in work, children growing toward independence, or the shifting responsibilities of caring for aging parents. These are the moments when the ground beneath us moves slightly, when routines change and uncertainty grows.

And very often, it is women who quietly help steady things.

They are the ones who adapt first, who re-organize the household, who absorb the emotional impact of change and translate it into practical action. They make new schedules, new plans, new rhythms. They help others adjust while continuing to carry the responsibilities that were already there.

Women are often celebrated for their resilience in these moments. And resilience is real. But it is also worth remembering that resilience often grows out of necessity, not choice. When systems fall short, when support is limited, when the work of care becomes invisible, women step forward because someone must.

None of this work appears on a résumé.

Yet without it, much of what we celebrate publicly would not be possible.

Recognizing this also invites an important question: what would it look like if the work women carry were more fully supported?

In some countries, caregiving is treated not only as a private responsibility, but as a social priority. Nations such as Sweden, Norway, and Finland have built policies that acknowledge the realities of family life and recognize caregiving as essential work, including extensive parental leave systems and support for families that extend beyond childbirth. These structures do not eliminate the work of care, but they recognize that caregiving is essential labour that sustains society.  For details on these comparative policies, see the OECD Family Database and national policy summaries (OECD, n.d.; Nordic Council of Ministers, 2025; UNICEF, 2019)

Imagining stronger support is not about diminishing women’s resilience. It is about ensuring that resilience is not the only system we rely on.

Furthermore, recognizing this does not diminish women’s visible accomplishments. Instead, it expands our understanding of what achievement looks like.

On International Women's Day, we celebrate the women whose achievements change the world in visible ways. But it is also worth celebrating the quieter work that sustains the world every day.

Achievement is not only what is built, discovered, published, or won. Sometimes it is what is held together.

Behind many accomplishments are women carrying the mental load, guiding families through transition, and doing the necessary work of care that rarely appears in public recognition.

Today is a reminder that this work matters too.

And perhaps the next step is not only celebrating women’s resilience but building a world where they are supported in carrying it.

 -- Anne TM Konkle, PhD

References

OECD. (n.d.). OECD Family Database. Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development. Retrieved March 8, 2026, from https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html

Nordic Council of Ministers. (2025). Paid parental leave and social sustainability in the Nordic countries: Finland. Retrieved from https://pub.norden.org/temanord2025-547/parental-leave-in-finland.html

UNICEF. (2019). Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia and Portugal rank highest for family‑friendly policies in OECD and EU countries. UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/albania/press-releases/sweden-norway-iceland-estonia-and-portugal-rank-highest-family-friendly-policies