After reviewing Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s new book,Lean In, about the need for women to try to become leaders in the face of persistent sexism,

I was struck by the American Psychological Association’s new Work and Well-Being Survey, published yesterday. More than a third of American workers experience chronic stress related to their jobs, according to the survey of 1,501 workers by Harris Interactive, conducted from January 9-21. Of that group, women feel worse than men on almost every gauge.
Some of the statistics: 37% of women said they feel stressed at work, versus 33% of men. Just 48% of women feel like the office is a level playing field for men and women, while 54% of men do. Less than half of women, 43%, feel they are paid enough, compared to 48% of men. Only 42% of women believe they get adequate non-monetary recognition for their work, versus 45% of men. As for opportunities to advance inside the organization where they’re working, only 35% of women feel they have the chance to get ahead, versus 43% of men. To manage their stress, 34% of women say they have enough resources to do so versus 38% of men.
The Wall Street Journal did a great job of covering this story, with some additional statistics: Women are under pressure in part because they are responsible for an increased share of their households’ earnings. Since 2009 employed wives have contributed 47% to family earnings, and that year the number went up from 45%, the biggest single-year jump in more than 20 years. In 1988, women supplied only 38% of family earnings. In a way, these figures bolster Sandberg’s plea for women to lean in and take charge. If we’re paying nearly half of what it costs to support our families, we should be entitled to demand more from our employers and our partners. I relate to this stress myself since I’m married to a freelancer whose earnings can be spotty. Fortunately he does more than his share of cooking and supervising our teenager.

New Study: Leaders Are Less Stressed Than Their Subordinates
The Journal tells one especially striking story about a woman worker whose stress overwhelmed her, prompting her to quit her high-power job and move to a more low-key position. Her saga makes me wonder what Sheryl Sandberg would say about the choices she made: Kay Keaney was a 40-year-old interior designer at a California medical company where she had a big portfolio of responsibilities that included planning building interiors and managing construction. She worked 60-hour weeks and commuted three hours a day while parenting two small children, including a two-year-old who once grabbed her BlackBerry while she was cooking dinner and threw it across the room. The Journaldoesn’t say how much her husband did in the home but it’s hard to imagine it would be enough to help Keaney manage this daunting schedule. After enduring panic attacks and headaches, she left her job and moved from San Jose to Media, Pa., where she took a lower-level post at a homeopathic products company. She lost 20 pounds and now gets home before her kids arrive from school.
I’m left wondering what Sandberg would have advised Keaney. If she had been a tougher negotiator, could Keaney have convinced her bosses in her old job to let her work less? I doubt it. Sometimes it’s not possible to lean in to responsibilities that are just too overwhelming. Sandberg writes a lot about how ingrained sexism stands in the way of women’s advancement. You could argue that Keaney’s old employer had structured her job in such a way that a mother could never hack it. But nowadays many jobs are set up this way, with expectations that employees work grueling hours regardless of their gender.
There is one silver lining to the APA survey: The percentage of workers who say they feel chronically stressed has come down from 41% in 2012 to 35% this year. That suggests that the economy and the job market are improving slightly. But the numbers are still high and women feel pressures more acutely than men.