K-12 Workers Have Highest Burnout Rate in U.S. Women Are Especially Affected
Nearly half of K-12 school employees in the U.S. say they “always” or “very often” feel burned out at work, a stat that has surpassed all other industries, according to a national survey.
The Gallup poll found that 44 percent of K-12 workers were burned out, with teachers reporting the most burnout at 52 percent.
Female teachers in particular are especially burned out at 55 percent, the survey found. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 76 percent of public school teachers are female.
“K-12 workers have consistently been among the more burned-out workers nationally, but the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated existing challenges and introduced new ones to a profession already struggling,” according to the Gallup poll. “School openings and closures; parent and community member frustrations with school pandemic responses; and social, academic and mental health challenges students faced only furthered K-12 burnout.”
College and university workers have the next-highest burnout level at 35 percent, making educators among the most burned-out groups in the U.S. workforce, the report states.
“The result is a workforce that is burned out and unfortunately leaving the profession at a high rate,” the report states.
In March 2020 when the pandemic first began, 36 percent of K-12 workers reported feeling burned out very often or always, 8 percentage points higher than the 28 percent found among all other workers as a whole. But that gap has since nearly doubled, with 44 percent of K-12 workers reporting burnout compared with 30 percent of all other workers – a 14-point difference.