Call for Papers: Community, Work & Family Special Issue

Centering Care Across the Life Course: Understanding Cognitive Labor and the Mental Load

Submissions due November 1, 2026

Overview: Allison Daminger, Leah Ruppanner, and Jennifer Hook are the guest editors of a special issue of the journal Community, Work & Family. This Special Issue stems directly from the 8th Biennial Work Family Researchers Network Meeting in Montreal, Canada, June 17-20, 2026. We seek submissions that advance empirical, theoretical, and/or applied research on cognitive labor and the mental load of care work.

Background: Historically, the physical dimension of such work (i.e., action-based chores and childcare tasks) has received the most attention, but the last decade has seen a surge of interest in the cognitive and mental load dimensions of care labor. In this Special Issue, we focus specifically on cognitive labor (defined as the set of mental processes aimed at figuring out what family members require, what they owe to others, and how best to ensure that both requirements and obligations are fulfilled; Daminger 2025), the mental load (defined as the emotional thinking work necessary to keep work and family running; Dean et al, 2020), and related constructs. Existing scholarship has established a strong conceptual framework, but much remains to be studied, including variations in mental load across populations, the relationship between policy and cognitive labor, and the interplay between paid and unpaid cognitive demands.

 Anticipated Content: We expect this Special Issue to include 6-8 articles plus an editor introduction. We invite contributions from those who presented on this topic at the 8th Biennial Work Family Researchers Network Meeting. The special issue will include content on a range of issues related to cognitive labor and the mental load, including but not limited to:

  • Differences in the nature or allocation of cognitive labor/mental load across diverse populations (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, immigration status, disability, family structure)
  • Expanded measurement of cognitive labor and/or the mental load
  • Cross-cultural and cross-national analyses; how policy and institutional contexts shape the mental load
  • Innovative approaches to measuring cognitive labor/mental load
  • Life-course perspectives, with particular emphasis on care for older adults and multigenerational care chains
  • Consequences of cognitive labor burdens (e.g., for health and well-being, relationship dynamics, job quality, child outcomes)
  • Intersections with workplaces and employment
  • Evaluation of interventions and practice (e.g., evaluation of programs, products, technologies, or policies that reduce or redistribute the burden)

Timeline:

  • Online submission site opens: September 15, 2026
  • Deadline for submission of manuscripts: November 1, 2026
  • First review process completed: March 1, 2027
  • Revised manuscripts must be resubmitted by: May 1, 2027
  • Second review process completed: July 1, 2027
  • Revised manuscripts must be resubmitted by: September 1, 2027
  • All manuscripts must be ready for publication by: September 30, 2027
  • Publication of special issue: Anticipated for early 2028 (and published online earlier, as manuscripts become available)

 Inquiries:

Questions about the special issue can be directed to the special issue editors:

General inquiries about submissions and the journal can be made to Community, Work & Family joint editors: