ParentalLoadSplit

ParentalLoadSplit targets the clinically documented mental load imbalance in parenting households — a pain that is pervasive, emotionally high-stakes, and increasingly studied. Weeks et al. (2024, Journal of Marriage and Family) surveyed 3,000 U.S. parents and found mothers carry 71% of cognitive household labor. A Skylight Mental Load Report (2026) quantifies the cost at 30 hours/week of unseen labor, 259 hours/year on scheduling alone, occupying 63% of parents' brain space daily. A 2024 Archives of Women's Mental Health study directly links this cognitive burden to depression, burnout, and relationship dysfunction. The core product opportunity is the perception gap: Pew Research (2023) finds 46% of dual-income couples have both partners simultaneously believing they carry more than their fair share. The current app landscape (Cozi, Cupla, fiftyfifty, Coexist) is fragmented — none produce a scored imbalance assessment by invisible-labor category, and none generate a structured, blame-free conversation artifact for couples. Spend is validated at $4.99–$9.99/month across adjacent apps. The primary gap versus prior score (16/25): pain evidence is stronger and better sourced than the original note acknowledged (clinical studies, not just founder framing), slightly lifting pain; existingSpend holds at 3 due to no explicit WTP for this specific product; reach is upgraded to 4 given multi-platform saturation and documented therapist referral channel; all other scores are consistent with digest evidence.