The True Cost of Success

For senior executives, it takes a village to raise a family and be the boss. So why is there still a stigma around women hiring help?

- MEGAN LEONHARDT

THE IDEA OF WOMEN "doing it all" has mostly been debunked, but the vast majority of female executives aren't exactly shouting from the rooftops the whole truth about how they're able to succeed personally and professionally. Typically, they have paid help or a stay-at-home partner or both assisting behind the scenes to make things run (more) smoothly. In 2023, when it seems everyone is oversharing on social media, why is there still a stigma around working women outsourcing care and household tasks?

Two-thirds of U.S. working women who have at least one direct report pay for some type of hired help from childcare to cleaning services to personal trainers to grocery delivery services like Instacart. That's according to a poll Fortune conducted in conjunction with The Muse and Fairygodboss of nearly 400 women who identified as managers, directors, vice presidents, C-suite executives, or founders.

Among women at the VP level, in the C-suite, or founders, the percentage using some type of paid service jumps to 75%.

The model of a "happy housewife" may be outdated, but home cooking, hands-on parenting, and housekeeping are still idealized in popular culture. And the home is still seen as largely the domain of women, who face the pervasive stigma that they're a bad mother or a bad wife or bad leader if they don't apply themselves enthusiastically to these chores. Hiring household help is something that many working women agonize over or treat like it's a dirty little secret, fearing they'll come across as entitled, incapable, or worse. Yet for most men, it's a guilt-free given. Having an assistant at work and a stay-at-home wife as well as a plethora of paid caregivers and household staff is the norm for many male executives.