Who Is Responsible for Work–Life Balance?

The problem with the concept of work–life balance is that most of the onus of achieving such clarity and satisfaction is left to the employee. As a pediatric intensivist and mother of two, I am ruled by the demands and requirements imposed both by my employer and academic position and by my beautiful children. It is the culture around and perception of working mothers that needs to change – both at work and in life. This would finally allow women to find balance and promote their success in all aspects of their lives. It seems every day there are new articles, blogs, and reports, you name it, which discuss work–life balance. Everyone has their " secrets " on how you too can achieve the perfect distribution of time, effort, and success between work and life. A quick Internet search will tell you to " Drop activities that sap your time and energy! " , " Rethink your errands! " (1), " Leave work at work! " (2), or, my favorite, " Rethink your idea of clean! " (3). Yes, a messy house is just the thing that will make me feel more balanced. Of course, there are small things each of us can do to prioritize the things that are important to us, but in order for us all, particularly working mothers, to find this elusive " balance " in our lives, it is our work environment and culture around work and life that needs to change. There are many aspects of the general work environment in the United States that do not support the working mother. The sad state of maternity leave in this country is one of the clearest examples of how poorly we support women trying to balance work and family. The United States currently ranks 20th out of the 21 high income countries in terms of the length of protected maternity leave at only 12 weeks and, along with Oman, is one of the only two countries that does not provide paid maternity leave (4). Of course, there are exceptions in this country: Netflix recently announced it would offer unlimited paid maternity leave to its employees, but only those on its digital side, not the lower paid, more easy to replace line workers (5). Unfortunately, this minimalist approach to maternity leave and pregnancy does not stop with employee policies. One of my colleagues, a neonatologist, planned …