As a leading family technology brand chosen by millions of parents to bring calm, connection and ease into the beautiful chaos of family life, Skylight was uniquely positioned to illuminate the invisible crisis impacting so many modern families: the overwhelming burden of the parental mental load. This phenomenon affects millions of families yet lacks comprehensive research, public understanding, or accessible solutions.
Through sustained advocacy and research with The Harris Poll, Skylight and their partner SGPR aimed to create meaningful social impact by:
Illuminating invisible labor - Quantify and validate the hidden work that overwhelmingly burdens parents, especially mothers
Helping bring balance to homes - Provide data-driven insights into household disparities to help families divide work equally and fairly
Supporting family wellbeing - Help parents understand they're not alone while offering practical paths to relief
Being a part of the solution - Highlight Skylight’s tools and resources that aim to serve families beyond any single campaign
The mental load crisis was hiding in plain sight, with parents drowning in invisible labor with little validation or support. Our ultimate goal was to serve as fierce advocates for overwhelmed families, transforming Skylight from a helpful product into an essential ally in the fight against the invisible labor of parenting, proving that practical solutions exist to restore balance and reclaim the joy in family life.
Strategy
Skylight and SGPR developed a year-round earned media approach focused on making invisible labor visible using research, education, and practical tools to start a much needed conversation about solutions.
Research-First Foundation: We partnered with The Harris Poll to conduct a comprehensive study on parental mental load, surveying 2,005 parents to create the definitive data source that would validate millions of families’ experiences. Our research revealed:
Parents spend 30.4 hours weekly on family coordination – nearly a full-time job worth $60,000 annually
Mental load occupies 63% of parents' daily brain space
The invisible labor crisis represents $3.8 trillion in unrecognized economic value nationally
Primary caregivers report carrying 75% of mental load while non-primary caregivers claim 56%—exposing the depth of household inequity
79% of parents experience anxiety about family scheduling, with nearly 1 in 4 couples seeking therapy due to scheduling burdens
Solutions-Driven Execution: Armed with compelling data, we built an ecosystem of practical tools and resources.
Mental Load Calculator: Developed a free viral tool helping parents quantify their invisible labor and understand its monetary value
Expert-Backed Resources: Partnered with specialists like pediatric psychologist and parent coach Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart to provide evidence-based guidance on mental load management and family organization, lending credibility and insight to our advocacy
Family Advocacy Toolkit: Data and talking points for parents advocating for support in their own relationships and communities, and how an organizational tool like Skylight Calendar can make a difference
Strategic Momentum Building: We maintained year-round cultural relevance by connecting mental load awareness to peak family stress periods when our messaging would resonate the most:
Back-to-school coordination challenges
Holiday planning overwhelm
Summer activity management
Daylight Savings
Mother and Father’s Day
Results
Illuminating invisible labor - ACHIEVED: Our research generated over 1B+ media impressions, with premier outlets validating findings that parents spend 30.4 hours weekly on mental load tasks worth $60,000 annually. Highlight coverage included The New York Times feature "The $700 Calendar That Wants to Save Your Marriage" and Forbes declaring "Parental Mental Load Is Worth $3.8 Trillion In Economic Value"—giving invisible labor permanent economic legitimacy and scientific credibility. A Today Show segment was also syndicated to 18 NBC affiliate stations reaching 20+ million households.
Helping bring balance to homes - ACHIEVED: We provided families with concrete data to address household inequities, revealing that while primary caregivers report carrying 75% of mental load, non-primary caregivers believe they handle 56%—a mathematical impossibility that exposed true disparities. Our coverage across The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and CNN Underscored, all positioned the mental load as a need-to-address social issue.
Supporting family wellbeing - EXCEEDED: Sustained coverage across major parenting publications like Motherly, Good Housekeeping, What to Expect, PureWow and more helped parents understand they weren’t alone.
Being a part of the solution - ACHIEVED: Coverage consistently positioned Skylight tools as genuine family solutions rather than mere products. The Mental Load Calculator became a viral tool that helped parents quantify their invisible load while media coverage highlighted how organizational tools like Skylight Calendar can provide tangible relief.
Our work turned the mental load into a mainstream conversation, with Google Trends data showing the term reaching peak search in April 2025.
