The Work Behind the Work – Details, episodes & analysis

When women become mothers, their careers often pay the price. Their salaries stall, promotions become scarce, and workplaces quietly start to see them as less committed employees.

In this episode, we dig into why workplaces penalize women for motherhood, creating long-lasting economic consequences that affect families, businesses, and the entire economy. Where did the motherhood penalty come from, and how can we finally remove it?

Featuring economist Vicky Pryce, author of Women vs. Capitalism, and journalist Josie Cox, author of Women, Money, Power.

Presented by WorkingNation, the nonprofit media platform focused on the future of work.

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The Work Behind The Work is a WorkingNation podcast about why raising children in America has become so difficult, and what that reveals about our entire economy.

Host Melissa Panzer, an executive producer at WorkingNation and a mom, herself, will explore the growing strain of raising children in America and what that reveals about our entire economy. Episodes will discuss how rising costs, lack of support, and cultural expectations are pushing families to the brink. Birth rates are falling. Care is unaffordable. And the long-term consequences are already unfolding.

This is not just a parenting problem. It is a national economic warning.

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In households across America, mothers are often the default managers of everything from medical care to education to emotional wellbeing, all while balancing paid work.

Why does this enormous responsibility so often fall to women? And how is it impacting their careers and our broader economy?

Care work isn’t instinctive. It’s assigned.
This episode looks at how caregiving roles form early and follow women into adulthood and the workplace. We travel to Bangladesh to meet the Shodagor, a river-trading community where caregiving looks very different. What can we learn from them about the mental load, gender roles, and the economic impact of invisible labor?

Featuring sociologist Barbara J. Risman, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago) and biological anthropologist Katie E. Starkweather, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago).

Presented by WorkingNation, the nonprofit media platform focused on the future of work.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The traditional image of the stay-at-home mother didn’t emerge by chance. It was intentionally created by marketers and industry leaders to meet economic needs during America’s industrial boom.

In this episode, we uncover how economic forces, and deliberate cultural messaging crafted a myth of motherhood that pushed women out of paid work and into the home. This manufactured ideal still shapes workplaces and family expectations today. But what happens when reality doesn’t match the marketing?

Featuring Lisa Selin Davis, author of Housewife, Reshma Saujani, CEO of Moms First, Chris Herbst, professor at Arizona State University, Barbara J. Risman, PhD (University of Illinois Chicago), and journalist Josie Cox, author of Women, Money, Power.

Presented by WorkingNation, the nonprofit media platform focused on the future of work.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.