A Few Math Problems for Mothers with COVID

Kate Tellers’s satirical essay “A Few Math Problems for Mothers with COVID” uses mock math word problems to underscore the gendered inequities of domestic labor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Framed through the perspective of sick mothers still expected to maintain household routines, the piece highlights how the pandemic intensified pre-existing burdens on women. One problem asks readers to calculate the likelihood of “Cassie” picking up the children while battling COVID, while “Eric,” with only a sniffle, naps for four hours.

Each equation introduces new names but similar dynamics, underscoring the widespread and systemic nature of these domestic imbalances. In one case, a mother with a 104-degree fever is implicitly still expected to heat up dinner, exemplifying the invisibility of maternal labor even during illness. Tellers uses humor to expose the central, yet unsupported, role of mothers as caretakers during a time of collective vulnerability.

By framing domestic life under COVID as an unsolvable equation—who cares for the caregiver?—the piece critiques the societal expectation that mothers will continue to function as primary caretakers regardless of personal cost.