Caregiver burnout is often framed as a personal issue, a matter of "self-care." This overlooks the complex realities of culture, identity, and the unequal distribution of emotional labor within families and communities. For many caregivers, especially those from marginalized groups, exhaustion isn't a sign of personal failure, but a predictable consequence of chronic, unshared responsibility.

Emotional labor encompasses tasks such as soothing, anticipating needs, managing conflict, and absorbing the intensity that can come from others. Research shows this labor is disproportionately carried by women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and first-generation adults.

Studies on gender and household labor consistently show that women perform significantly more emotional and caregiving work, even when working full-time outside the home (American Psychological Association, 2019). Research on racial disparities in caregiving finds that Black, Latinx, and Asian caregivers often provide more hours of care and experience more financial and emotional strain (AARP & National Alliance for Caregiving, 2020). LGBTQ adults are more likely to serve as........

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