It’s IWD2025 (International Women’s Day) on March 8th – a time to celebrate the incredible progress made toward gender equality, from breaking barriers in leadership to greater representation in politics, sports, and STEM fields. More women than ever are leading businesses, making scientific breakthroughs, and shaping policies that drive inclusivity. However, over half a century after the Equal Pay Act, inequality, not just with pay, still persists, reminding us that the fight for true equity continues.
It’s complex and multi-dimensional, but here’s why it remains an issue:
Picking an average month (some less / some more), women suffer at least 5 days with menstrual symptoms. This is pain, discomfort, hassle, time (there is a reason we are longer in the loos!), embarrassment (have I leaked?!), brain fog, emotional turmoil, and fatigue.
5 days a month, is 60 a year. For me personally, over a 30 plus-year career, that’s 1,920 days of being below par, just about getting by.
Add to that the possible challenges of pregnancy, maternity leave, post-natal depression, fertility treatments like IVF, miscarriages, and the ongoing responsibility of childcare. Then come perimenopause and menopause – far more than just hot flashes, these can be debilitating and have a serious impact on careers. With all these factors at play, it’s no surprise that women often face an uphill battle in securing and maintaining top jobs and salaries.
*More than 1 million women in the UK were predicted to leave their jobs in 2022 because employers were failing to support them as they go through the menopause.
*A survey of 2,000 women aged 45 to 67 said it was the second most devastating impact on their career to date, only just behind having children. Source: Guardian
So, here is a thought:
What about we all take 5 days each month off / away / not on it. We could have a menstrual buddy system. When it’s that time, each gender mixed team agree to cut down on their working hours. We slow down … for the emotional wellbeing and equality of all of us. So, we can all do the bigger jobs, have the bigger salaries; just do it more efficiently, and on an equal playing field.
Slowing down is not just for women.
Many find it incredibly hard to articulate how they feel, and all worry that if they are too open it will look and appear damaging, so, when suffering, they tend to put up, shut up and cling on.
I so believe we all need to pull back. We’re digitally overloaded, we are exhausted, I see and hear about too many back-to-back meetings, and there STILL isn’t enough understanding about mental illness (for all genders).
It’s called being human
I am now a – slightly 😉 – more mature woman and here is a little life fact I have learnt: we will all get ill at some stage – be that mental or physical, none of us are immune, it’s called being human. Our future avatars may be able to disguise how we feel but we’re not robots and it’s important we look after ourselves.
So, I urge companies to encourage pulling back. To acknowledge that not being on it all the time is normal and for women, biologically impossible. And in fact that working less, giving head space to think, plan and strategise, actually leads us to being more efficient. Being in tune with our emotional intelligence is better and more equal for everyone.
One of my mantras (I have many) is ‘do less to achieve more’.
So in conclusion, this IWD2025, we celebrate progress in gender equality but acknowledge the ongoing challenges women face – from menstrual health to maternity and menopause. To create a truly equal workplace, we must rethink work-life balance and embrace a healthier, more sustainable way of working for everyone.
