PYMNTS Intelligence prepared the Women’s Wellness Index 2024 to assess factors that negatively impact women’s health and how to overcome them. The index paints a holistic picture of health and wellness outcomes by leveraging several key factors, including how respondents report their overall health, their ability to secure healthcare, the amount they spend on their personal health relative to their household, and the time they spend on their own health and wellness.

Taking these complexities into account, the 2024 Women’s Wellness Index considers health and well-being and the resources needed to support women’s overall wellness. This report focuses on the finding that women, particularly mothers, are more likely to report being responsible for the health and well-being of their household.

This letter is part of the Women’s Wellness Index 2024a collaboration with PYMNTS Intelligence And CareCredit, a Synchrony solution. This edition is based on findings from a census-based survey of 10,045 U.S. consumers conducted November 10, 2023, through December 6, 2023.

Key findings

When women become mothers, their health priorities change.

PYMNTS Intelligence found that women with children are more likely to prioritize the health of their household over their own health. Conversely, women who live alone are most likely to say their personal health and well-being is their top priority. For women who live alone, health and well-being come before interpersonal relationships, spirituality and financial goals. Health and well-being are less important for women who live with romantic partners, with half of them prioritizing their own health. Health priorities are also divided among women who live in nontraditional households — such as with roommates or people who are not their partners — the data shows.

When women become mothers, their family becomes a higher priority. This effect is particularly strong among mothers in nuclear families, less than a quarter of whom say their personal well-being is their top priority.

Although household health is still a priority for 64% of single mothers, single mothers prioritize their own health 64% more than mothers in nuclear families. Why? Some single mothers think that maintaining their own health is key to their children’s well-being, our interviews show.

Women – and especially mothers – are primarily responsible for health in the household.

Women, especially mothers, overwhelmingly see themselves as the caregivers of their household’s health and well-being. Women who live with others are more likely than men to see themselves as responsible for the health and well-being of their household. The data show that this resonates with women regardless of household composition.

53% of women who live with their partner but do not have children say they are responsible for the well-being of the household. In contrast, only 16% of women who live with their partner say that their male partner has this responsibility.

Consequently, women often take on a maternal role for their male partner, even if they do not have children. Maintaining health in the household is also a priority for women who live with people other than their partner or children.

The data confirm that more women are taking on the role of family caregiver than mothers. Our results show that 63% of women in nuclear families and 66% of single mothers say they are responsible for the well-being of the household. By comparison, only 17% of mothers in nuclear families say their male partner does most for the health of the family. Almost as many – 15% – rely on a household member other than the father.

Women report taking on a larger share of care work in the household.

Data on women’s time use show that women typically do more housework than men, regardless of whether women consider themselves the primary decision-makers regarding health in the household or not.

A likely related finding shows that women in cohabiting unions struggle to find time for their own well-being. Further analysis found that 14% of women in cohabiting unions without children cite household chores as a barrier, while 7.6% cite caregiving responsibilities and 9.7% cite concern for the health and well-being of the household as barriers. Men in cohabiting unions, on the other hand, are slightly less likely to report all of these barriers.

The difference is even more pronounced among parents. Mothers in nuclear families are twice as likely as fathers to report that lack of time due to household chores limits their ability to manage their personal health and well-being. Mothers are 57% more likely to report lack of time due to caregiving responsibilities. In addition, mothers in nuclear families are 49% more likely to report that they do not have enough time due to worrying about the well-being of the household. These differences are smaller among single parents. In single-parent households or in households without women, men take on a greater share of household health responsibilities.

Women report that care work similarly takes up time spent on their own well-being, regardless of who is primarily responsible for health in the household. This suggests that women ultimately bear the burden of care work—regardless of who gets the credit for it.

Diploma

Motherhood changes women’s priorities for their own and household health. Particularly in nuclear families, mothers are most likely to say that the health of the household is more important than their own. Single mothers know that their own health is a means to the well-being of the family—but they still often place more importance on the health of the household. Many women, especially mothers, view taking care of the household as a necessary task—one for which they are not always recognized. But health differences suggest that this selflessness comes at a cost: mothers fare worse than average in terms of health.

Data suggests that men do not shoulder these responsibilities to the same extent. A more balanced distribution of work would likely lead to better health outcomes for women and mothers. Although this distribution is influenced by many factors, parental leave is a major driver of gender inequality in the labour market. International policy research suggests that more balanced parental leave and parental leave go a long way to changing the gender distribution of care work, but any solutions that create a level playing field could help improve women’s health outcomes.¹

methodology

The Women’s Wellness Index 2024: Women’s health and wellness priorities at different stages of lifea collaboration between PYMNTS Intelligence And CareCredita Synchrony solution, is based on a survey of 10,045 U.S. consumers conducted November 10, 2023, through December 6, 2023. The survey examined how women’s finances, time, and social context impact their overall health and well-being. Our sample was balanced across a number of key demographic variables: the average respondent was 48 years old, 51% identified as women, 33% had a college degree, and 38% reported income of $100,000 or more per year.

Read more from this series.

^{1. (Collins, C. Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving. Princeton University Press. 2019. Retrieved August 2024.)↩}