essay on working woman

Women’s Work Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

This argumentative essay about women’s work explains all the disadvantages and advantages of being a woman in the workplace. The positive and negative effects of being a working mother are also presented, so you might draw your own conclusion on the issue.

Introduction

• Disadvantages

In today’s world, women take active roles in employment, unlike during the olden days when they stayed at home and took care of their families. Women taking active roles in jobs have advantages and disadvantages. In contemporary society, women and men have equal opportunities for employment.

Working Women Advantages

The advantages of women working include more income for their families, the opportunity to explore their talents, and the promotion of economic growth. When women work, they make money that adds to their families’ financial well-being. This helps pay bills, buy food, and educate children. Women have goals and objectives to achieve in their lives. Working allows them to pursue their dreams and talents, as well as work on their goals by pursuing careers of their choice. Finally, women who work contribute towards economic growth through their jobs.

Women’s Work Disadvantages

Disadvantages for working women include the absence of enough time for their families, pressure from work-related stress, and conflicts of interest. Working women have little time to take care of their families because their jobs are very demanding and time-consuming. Many jobs are very stressful, and many women cannot handle high levels of work-related stress. Their nature predisposes them to anxiety and depression more than when compared to men. Finally, there is a conflict of interests. Their roles as mothers compromise their performance at work. They use working hours to take care of their children at the expense of their jobs.

Today, women seek employment opportunities just like men. This increases income for their families and gives them opportunities to explore their talents by pursuing careers of their choice. However, it affects their families because they do not spend enough time with their children. In addition, their role as mothers has involved my performance at work.

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IvyPanda. (2021, February 26). Women's Work Advantages and Disadvantages Essay. https://ivypanda.com/essays/working-women-advantages-and-disadvantages/

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Bibliography

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Research Roundup: How Women Experience the Workplace Today

• Dagny Dukach

New studies on what happens when women reach the top, the barriers they still face, and the (sometimes hidden) stresses they deal with.

What will it take to make gender equity in the workplace a reality? It’s a complicated question, with no easy answers — but research from a wide array of academic disciplines aims to expand our understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities women face today. In this research roundup, we share highlights from several new and forthcoming studies that explore the many facets of gender at work.

In 2021, the gender gap in U.S. workforce participation hit an all-time low . But of course, substantial gender disparities persist in pay, leadership representation, access to resources, and many other key metrics. How can we make sense of all these different dimensions of gender equity in the workplace?

• Dagny Dukach is a former associate editor at Harvard Business Review.

Partner Center

Why has COVID-19 been especially harmful for working women?

After decades of struggle, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women in the United States the right to vote. This hard-won right foretold the increasing presence of women not only in the voting booth, but also in the workplace. By the beginning of this year, the centennial of the 19th Amendment’s ratification, women’s labor force participation stood at 58% , nearly a three-fold increase since 1920. Without the increasing participation of women in the workforce, household income growth of the middle class would have remained largely stagnant since the late 1970’s .

While there is much to celebrate, the 19th Amendment’s centennial anniversary also coincides with a major threat to the gains women have made in the workplace: the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing measures required to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus have had staggering economic and social impacts, hitting women particularly hard.

COVID-19 is hard on women because the U.S. economy is hard on women, and this virus excels at taking existing tensions and ratcheting them up. Millions of women were already supporting themselves and their families on meager wages before coronavirus-mitigation lockdowns sent unemployment rates skyrocketing and millions of jobs disappeared. And working mothers were already shouldering the majority of family caregiving responsibilities in the face of a childcare system that is wholly inadequate for a society in which most parents work outside the home. Of course, the disruptions to daycare centers, schools, and afterschool programs have been hard on working fathers, but evidence shows working mothers have taken on more of the resulting childcare responsibilities , and are more frequently reducing their hours or leaving their jobs entirely in response.

Problems facing women in the labor market have never been hidden, but they have been inconvenient to address because they are so entrenched in the basic operations of our economy and society. The low wages associated with “pink collar” occupations have long contributed to the feminization of poverty, and the chronic shortage of affordable, high-quality childcare reflects outdated notions of women’s societal roles, how the economy functions, and child development. COVID-19’s massive disruption to employment, childcare, and school routines has crippled the economy and pushed millions of women and families to the financial brink. This moment provides an important opening to rethink how policy supports women’s roles as financial providers and parents.

Women are disproportionately represented in low-wage jobs

Based on our own analysis of 2018 American Community Survey data, before COVID-19, nearly half of all working women—46% or 28 million—worked in jobs paying low wages, with median earnings of only $10.93 per hour. The share of workers earning low wages is higher among Black women (54%) and Hispanic or Latina women (64%) than among white women (40%), reflecting the structural racism that has limited options in education, housing, and employment for people of color.

For some women, jobs paying low wages don’t present economic hardship—think of someone with a higher earning spouse or early in their career. But a substantial number of women support themselves and their families by working in low-wage jobs. Fifteen percent are single parents, 63% are in their prime working years (ages 25-54), and 57% work full time year-round, indicating the position is not a side activity. Forty-one percent live in households below 200% of the federal poverty level (equivalent to about $43,000 for a family of 3) a common measure capturing the working poor. More than one quarter receive safety net benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, Social Security, or other public assistance income.

Women are much more likely than men to work in low-paying jobs: 37% of working men earn low hourly wages, nearly 10 percentage points lower than women. Some of the difference between men and women is explained by personal choice—for example women often pursue education in lower paying majors, fields, and occupations than men. Some women also prioritize work flexibility over wages.

But, an extensive body of evidence shows women also face discrimination in the labor market. Even when women make the “right” choices—completing education and pursuing employment in high wage industries and occupations—they are underpaid relative to men, earning 92 cents to the dollar according to one recent analysis . While this underpayment doesn’t necessarily push women into low wages, the earnings disparity illustrates the devaluation of women’s contributions to the labor force. Occupations dominated by women and people of color, particularly care and domestic workers like home care aides, have been systematically and intentionally excluded from federal labor and employment protections, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act’s guarantee of minimum wage and overtime pay , and offer very low wages. Evidence also demonstrates that as an occupation becomes more female-dominated, median wages decline .

Our childcare and school systems don’t meet the needs of working mothers

The majority of women between ages 18 and 64 work. One in four working women, 15.5 million, has a child under the age of 14 at home. Some of these women work part time or have a family member on whom they can rely to provide supervision for their young and school-aged children. But more than 10 million (17% of all working women) rely on childcare and schools to keep their children safe while they work. These women are working at least half time and do not live with a potential caregiver at home—another adult who is either out of the labor force or working less than half time. In comparison, 12% of all working men are reliant on schools and childcare.

There simply are not enough affordable, high-quality childcare options to meet this demand, disproportionately harming working mothers, especially low- and middle-income mothers and mothers of color . The childcare that is available is often unaffordable. A 2018 analysis found that average childcare costs in every state exceed the federal definition of affordability —7% of annual household income. The same analysis found center-based childcare for an infant costs an average of more than $1,200 per month and about $900 per month for a toddler. As childcare becomes more difficult to access, women are more likely to stay out of or leave the workforce; one analysis found maternal labor force participation rates are 3 percentage points lower in childcare deserts than in areas with adequate childcare supply . The childcare system also relies on an underpaid, primarily female workforce —so not only is it a bad system for those it serves, but it undervalues those it employs.

As children get older, the public school system offers some reprieve from the costly and sometimes difficult to access childcare system. Even in normal times, though, parents who work outside of the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. school schedule are left to piece together supervision before school, after school, and during the summer. High income parents can often navigate this misalignment with quality childcare, afterschool programs, and summer camps. For lower income parents, this lack of alignment can be a real burden . And with fewer dollars to spend filling in the gaps between the school day and work schedules, low-income parents are more likely to rely on informal care arrangements, older siblings, and unlicensed home care providers.

COVID-19 has upended the labor market, with disastrous consequences for working women and their families

As we know, COVID-19 has massively disrupted American life. Beginning in March, non-essential businesses closed their doors, workers were furloughed or laid off, and schools and daycares sent children home. At its peak, 95% of the U.S. population was under stay at home orders .

Although necessary for public health, these closures resulted in an unprecedented number of unemployment claims as millions of workers were simultaneously furloughed or laid off. A stunning 39% of people living in low-income households reported a job loss in March , and while there are signs the economy is slowly improving, many people remain without work.

Because of their concentration in low-wage and face-to-face jobs, these layoffs hit women especially hard. While many higher wage jobs could transition from an in-person to remote work environment, that is not the case for the majority of low-wage jobs that rely on interaction between customers and workers, such as retail sales and hospitality , two of the most common occupations among low-wage women. The unemployment rate for women jumped by more than 12 percentage points between February and April while the rate for men increased by less than 10 percentage points. The losses for women without college degrees is even more staggering. Between March and early April, their employment rate dropped 15 percentage points compared to a drop of 11 percentage points among non-college educated men .

Those low-wage women who did not suffer job losses were primarily in frontline occupations, such as healthcare support and grocery workers. These women continued working, often with inadequate access to appropriate personal protective equipment, putting their health and the health of their loved ones at risk.

COVID-19 is hard on women because the U.S. economy is hard on women, and this virus excels at taking existing tensions and ratcheting them up.

COVID-19 has also increased the pressure on working mothers, low-wage and otherwise. In a survey from May and June , one out of four women who became unemployed during the pandemic reported the job loss was due to a lack of childcare, twice the rate of men surveyed. A more recent survey shows the losses have not slowed down: between February and August mothers of children 12 years old and younger lost 2.2 million jobs compared to 870,000 jobs lost among fathers .

Balancing work and family obligations has long been the reality for women in the United States. Historically, women have been the primary caregivers in their families. This has remained true even as most women work outside the home and provide important contributions to household income. Mothers working full-time spend 50% more time each day caring for children than fathers working full-time. But COVID-19 and the uncertainty around childcare and in-person instruction for school-aged children this fall has further increased this burden. July estimates show employment levels in child care services are 20% below levels from the same period last year, indicating a persistent reduction in available childcare. Millions of daycare slots may be permanently lost without further intervention. For schools, reopening has largely been determined at the district level, with diverse approaches and varying levels of success . Furthermore, in-person instruction for students and the reopening of daycares is not a one-and-done proposition. So, while parents, but especially women who have taken on even more during the pandemic , may get a temporary reprieve, outbreaks may force children and their families to quarantine , schools or daycares to close temporarily, or more long-term moves to online instruction .

As the pandemic persists, women will continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of its burden. While there has been some recovery in the labor market, there is still a long way to go to reach pre-pandemic employment highs; low-wage jobs will be the first to disappear again if there is a severe resurgence of the virus this fall. For those women who have been able to keep their jobs, many will continue to balance competing priorities. To earn a paycheck, those who cannot telework must show up physically to work, potentially posing health risks to themselves and their families, and requiring them to find alternative care arrangements for their children if school or daycare are unavailable. Those who can work from home must also care for or help teach their children in the case of inaccessible childcare or limited in-person instruction at schools.

Solutions should do more than provide temporary support to working women

These realities have the potential to set back the labor force participation and wage gains women have made in the labor market over the last several decades.

Solutions to improve the conditions of working women should address both aspects driving the disproportionate harm they have borne as a result of COVID-19’s economic impacts: an overreliance on an inadequate childcare system and their concentration in low wage jobs.

While the role of women in our economy has shifted over the last 100 years, our systems have not similarly evolved to support them. Because these conditions have been longstanding, the solutions put in place should not exclusively focus on short term COVID-19 recovery, but should also make long-lasting changes that aim to close the wage gap, improve working conditions and family leave options, and better align the childcare and school systems to the needs of working parents so mothers who want to work can do so. Policy needs to reflect that women have fundamental roles in both the workplace and in families, and to support women in those roles.

Of course, short-term interventions to address the current crisis are necessary and welcome. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provided 12 weeks of parental paid leave through the end of the year and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) provided enhanced unemployment benefits that reduced poverty rates . The CARES Act also provided direct aid to states to address immediate problems in education budgets and infused the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) with $3.5 billion to keep childcare providers afloat. But many of the most important provisions of these two pieces of legislation have expired, will expire soon, or were inadequate. The status of another relief package is totally unclear given the latest communications from the White House, and it seems unlikely these systems will receive any additional reprieve this fall.

In addition to the temporary fixes enacted by the FFCRA and the CARES Act, a permanent federal paid parental leave policy and a sustained funding increase for the CCDBG would go a long way in reducing the cost of childcare and working mothers’ overreliance on it. Other policies that could increase women’s labor force participation, close the wage gap, and make work more accessible for mothers include policies that incentivize or fund predictable work scheduling, guaranteed number of work hours , and extended school-day or before and after school programs . We are long overdue in realigning our labor market policies, schools, and daycare system with the modern reality faced by working parents; these interventions should be considered as part of the solution.

Beyond making work more accessible for mothers, the labor market also needs to more fairly compensate women for their work. Improving wage equality and reducing discrimination in the labor market is no easy task. Potential solutions include raising the federal minimum wage and eliminating the tipped minimum wage . Policies to incentivize wage transparency at the firm level can also decrease the gender wage gap.

A women’s place is in the family and the workforce, if they so choose. We can’t bounce back from the COVID-19 recession without interventions to support them in both roles. But we also need to recognize that although the pandemic created an acute and visible crisis, the lack of support for families and workers was a pre-existing condition. Even with the progress made since the passage of the 19th Amendment, our economy was doing a disservice to millions of working women before COVID-19 hit. Returning to the status quo should not be the goal. Instead, we should aim higher—for an economy that compensates women fairly for their work, improves access to jobs through family-friendly policies, and supports women in their chosen roles as breadwinners, mothers, or some combination of the two.

Thank you to Julia Du and Caroline George for research assistance.

This piece is part of 19A: The Brookings Gender Equality Series.  Learn more about the series and read published work »

About the Authors

Nicole bateman, research analyst – metropolitan policy program, martha ross, senior fellow – metropolitan policy program, more from bateman and ross, working parents are key to covid-19 recovery.

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As we approach another nationwide recession, we are about to see history repeat itself by hitting young adults and those with lower levels of education especially hard.

Coronavirus makes it impossible to ignore the economic insecurity built into our labor market 

In addition to the dire risk to individual health, side effects of the coronavirus pandemic are sure to include widespread economic hardship and uncertainty. If you experience these symptoms, you’re mostly on your own—as the virus reveals a grossly inadequate safety net and willfully ineffective political system that are poised to leave our most vulnerable […]

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Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen examines the history of women entering the labor force and analyzes both the challenges that remain today and potential solutions to meet those challenges.

Not Far Enough: Why the law is only the first benchmark to true equality

Tina Tchen explains how legal battles have helped ensure some protections for women but have ultimately fallen short. We must redouble our efforts make systemic, structural change, she argues, including to overcome barriers keeping women from succeeding in the workplace.

Women’s work boosts middle class incomes but creates a family time squeeze that needs to be eased

Middle-class incomes have risen modestly in recent decades, and most of any gains in their incomes are the result of more working women. Isabel Sawhill and Katherine Guyot explain the important role women play in middle class households and the challenges they face, including family “time squeeze.”

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Gender discrimination comes in many forms for today’s working women

About four-in-ten working women (42%) in the United States say they have faced discrimination on the job because of their gender. They report a broad array of personal experiences, ranging from earning less than male counterparts for doing the same job to being passed over for important assignments, according to a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data.

The survey – conducted in the summer before a recent wave of sexual misconduct allegations against prominent men in politics, the media and other industries – found that, among employed adults, women are about twice as likely as men (42% versus 22%) to say they have experienced at least one of eight specific forms of gender discrimination at work.

One of the biggest gender gaps is in the area of income: One-in-four working women (25%) say they have earned less than a man who was doing the same job; one-in-twenty working men (5%) say they have earned less than a female peer.

Women are roughly four times as likely as men to say they have been treated as if they were not competent because of their gender (23% of employed women versus 6% of men), and they are about three times as likely as men to say they have experienced repeated small slights at work because of their gender (16% versus 5%).

There are significant gaps on other items as well. While 15% of working women say they have received less support from senior leaders than a man who was doing the same job, only 7% of working men report having a similar experience. One-in-ten working women say they have been passed over for the most important assignments because of their gender, compared with 5% of men.

The survey, which was conducted July 11-Aug. 10, 2017, with a nationally representative sample of 4,914 adults (including 4,702 who are employed at least part time), also asked about sexual harassment in a separate question. It found that while similar shares of women and men say sexual harassment is at least a small problem in their workplace (36% versus 35%), women are about three times as likely as men to have experienced it personally while at work (22% versus 7%).

In more recent surveys conducted by other organizations, the share of women reporting personal experiences with sexual harassment has fluctuated, depending in part on how the question was asked. In an ABC News/Washington Post survey conducted Oct. 12-15, for example, 54% of women said they have received unwanted sexual advances from a man that they felt were inappropriate whether or not those advances were work-related; 30% said this had happened to them at work. In an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted Nov. 13-15, 35% of women said they have personally experienced sexual harassment or abuse from someone in the workplace.

The Center’s survey asked about sexual harassment specific to the workplace. The survey was conducted as part of a broader forthcoming study on women and minorities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Differences by education

Among employed women, the share saying they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace is roughly similar across racial and ethnic, educational, generational and partisan lines. But when it comes to specific forms of workplace discrimination tested in the survey, there are significant differences among women that are rooted mainly in their level of education.

Women with a bachelor’s degree or more education report experiencing discrimination across a range of items at significantly higher rates than women with less education. And in some regards, the most highly educated women stand out. While 57% of working women with a postgraduate degree say they have experienced some form of gender discrimination at work, for example, the same is true for 40% of women with a bachelor’s degree and 39% of those who did not complete college.

Roughly three-in-ten working women with a postgraduate degree (29%) say they have experienced repeated small slights at work because of their gender, compared with 18% of those with a bachelor’s degree and 12% with less education. Similarly, working women with a postgraduate degree are much more likely than their less-educated counterparts to say they have received less support from senior leaders than a man doing the same job (27% of postgraduate women, compared with 11% of women with bachelor’s degrees and 13% of women with less education). The pattern is similar when it comes to being passed over for promotions and feeling isolated at work.

When it comes to wages, working women with a bachelor’s degree or more are much more likely than those with less education to say they have earned less than a man who performed the same job. Women with family incomes of $100,000 or higher stand out here as well – 30% of them say they’ve earned less than a man who was doing comparable work compared with roughly one-in-five women with lower incomes (21%). But overall, women with higher family incomes are about equally likely to have experienced at least one of these eight forms of gender-based discrimination at work.

There are differences by race and ethnicity as well. While roughly half of employed black women (53%) say they have experienced at least one type of gender discrimination at work, fewer white and Hispanic women say the same (40% for each group). One area in particular where black women stand apart is in their reporting of having been passed over for the most important assignments because of their gender – 22% of employed black women say this has happened to them, compared with 8% of whites and 9% of Hispanics.

Women’s experiences with discrimination in the workplace also differ along party lines. Roughly half (48%) of working Democratic women and Democratic-leaning independents say they have experienced at least one form of gender discrimination at work, compared with a third of Republican and Republican-leaning women. These party differences hold up even after controlling for race. The partisan gap is in keeping with wide party differences among both men and women in their views of gender equality in the U.S.; a separate 2017 Pew Research Center survey found Democrats largely dissatisfied with the country’s progress toward gender equality.

About the survey: These are some of the findings from a survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of 4,914 adults, ages 18 and older, from July 11-Aug. 10, 2017. The survey, which was conducted online in English and in Spanish through GfK’s Knowledge Panel, included an oversample of employed adults working in science, technology, engineering and math-related fields. The margin of sampling error based on the 4,702 employed adults in the sample is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points. The margin of sampling error based on the 2,344 employed women in the sample is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points. See the  topline  for exact question wording.

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Kim Parker is director of social trends research at Pew Research Center .

Cary Funk is director of science and society research at Pew Research Center .

Half of Latinas Say Hispanic Women’s Situation Has Improved in the Past Decade and Expect More Gains

A majority of latinas feel pressure to support their families or to succeed at work, a look at small businesses in the u.s., majorities of adults see decline of union membership as bad for the u.s. and working people, a look at black-owned businesses in the u.s., most popular.

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5 Women Empowerment Essays Everybody Should Read

What does “women’s empowerment” mean? It refers to the process of giving women control over their choices and access to the opportunities and resources that allow them to thrive. While there’s been progress, gender inequality remains a persistent issue in the world. Empowering women politically, socially, economically, educationally, and psychologically helps narrow the gap. Here are five essays about women’s empowerment that everyone should read:

Women’s Movements and Feminist Activism (2019)

Amanda Gouws & Azille Coetzee

This editorial from the “Empowering women for gender equity” issue of the journal Agenda explores the issue’s themes. It gives a big picture view of the topics within. The issue is dedicated to women’s movements and activism primarily in South Africa, but also other African countries. New women’s movements focus on engaging with institutional policies and running campaigns for more female representation in government. Some barriers make activism work harder, such as resistance from men and funding, If you’re interested in the whole issue, this editorial provides a great summary of the main points, so you can decide if you want to read further.

Agenda is an African peer-viewed academic journal focusing on feminism. It was established in 1987. It publishes articles and other entries, and tutors young writers.

5 Powerful Ways Women Can Empower Other Women (2020)

Pavitra Raja

Originally published during Women’s History Month, this piece explores five initiatives spearheaded by women in the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship community. Created by women for women, these innovations demonstrate what’s possible when women harness their skills and empower each other. The initiatives featured in this article embrace technology, education, training programs, and more.

Pavitra Raja is the Community Manager for social entrepreneurs in Europe, North America, and Latin America. She’s consulted with the UN Economic Commission for Europe and also has experience in legal affairs and policy in the private and public sectors.

The Key to Improving Women’s Health in Developing Countries (2019)

Because of gender inequality, women’s health is affected around the world. Factors like a lower income than men, more responsibilities at home, and less education impact health. This is most clear in developing countries. How can this be addressed? This essay states that empowerment is the key. When giving authority and control over their own lives, women thrive and contribute more to the world. It’s important that programs seeking to end gender inequality focus on empowerment, and not “rescue.” Treating women like victims is not the answer.

Axa is a leading global insurer, covering more than 100 million customers in 57 countries. On their website, they say they strive for the collective good by working on prevention issues, fighting climate change, and prioritizing protection. The company has existed for over 200 years.

Empowering Women Is Smart Economics (2012)

Ana Revenga and Sudhir Shetty

What are the benefits of women’s empowerment? This article presents the argument that closing gender gaps doesn’t only serve women, it’s good for countries as a whole. Gender equality boosts economic productivity, makes institutions more representative, and makes life better for future generations. This piece gives a good overview of the state of the world (the data is a bit old, but things have not changed significantly) and explores policy implications. It’s based on the World Bank’s World Development Report in 2012 on gender equality and development.

Ana Revenga and Sudhir Shetty both worked at the World Bank at the time this article was originally published. Revenga was the Sector Director of Human Development, Europe and Central Asia. Shetty (who still works at the World Bank in a different role) was the Sector Director, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, East Asia and Pacific.

The Side Of Female Empowerment We Aren’t Talking About Enough (2017)

Tamara Schwarting

In this era of female empowerment, women are being told they can do anything, but can they? It isn’t because women aren’t capable. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. As this article says, women have “more to do but no more time to do it.” The pressure is overwhelming. Is the image of a woman who can “do it all” unrealistic? What can a modern woman do to manage a high-stakes life? This essay digs into some solutions, which include examining expectations and doing self-checks.

Tamara Schwarting is the CEO of 1628 LTD, a co-working community space of independent professionals in Ohio. She’s also an executive-level consultant in supply chain purchasing and business processes. She describes herself as an “urbanist” and has a passion for creative, empowering work environments.

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What does gender equality look like today?

Date: Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Progress towards gender equality is looking bleak. But it doesn’t need to.

A new global analysis of progress on gender equality and women’s rights shows women and girls remain disproportionately affected by the socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling with disproportionately high job and livelihood losses, education disruptions and increased burdens of unpaid care work. Women’s health services, poorly funded even before the pandemic, faced major disruptions, undermining women’s sexual and reproductive health. And despite women’s central role in responding to COVID-19, including as front-line health workers, they are still largely bypassed for leadership positions they deserve.

UN Women’s latest report, together with UN DESA, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2021 presents the latest data on gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights the progress made since 2015 but also the continued alarm over the COVID-19 pandemic, its immediate effect on women’s well-being and the threat it poses to future generations.

We’re breaking down some of the findings from the report, and calling for the action needed to accelerate progress.

The pandemic is making matters worse

One and a half years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the toll on the poorest and most vulnerable people remains devastating and disproportionate. The combined impact of conflict, extreme weather events and COVID-19 has deprived women and girls of even basic needs such as food security. Without urgent action to stem rising poverty, hunger and inequality, especially in countries affected by conflict and other acute forms of crisis, millions will continue to suffer.

A global goal by global goal reality check:

Goal 1. Poverty

In 2021, extreme poverty is on the rise and progress towards its elimination has reversed. An estimated 435 million women and girls globally are living in extreme poverty.

And yet we can change this .

Over 150 million women and girls could emerge from poverty by 2030 if governments implement a comprehensive strategy to improve access to education and family planning, achieve equal wages and extend social transfers.

Goal 2. Zero hunger

The global gender gap in food security has risen dramatically during the pandemic, with more women and girls going hungry. Women’s food insecurity levels were 10 per cent higher than men’s in 2020, compared with 6 per cent higher in 2019.

This trend can be reversed , including by supporting women small-scale producers, who typically earn far less than men, through increased funding, training and land rights reforms.

Goal 3. Good health and well-being

Disruptions in essential health services due to COVID-19 are taking a tragic toll on women and girls. In the first year of the pandemic, there were an estimated 1.4 million additional unintended pregnancies in lower and middle-income countries.

We need to do better .

Response to the pandemic must include prioritizing sexual and reproductive health services, ensuring they continue to operate safely now and after the pandemic is long over. In addition, more support is needed to ensure life-saving personal protection equipment, tests, oxygen and especially vaccines are available in rich and poor countries alike as well as to vulnerable population within countries.

Goal 4. Quality education

A year and a half into the pandemic, schools remain partially or fully closed in 42 per cent of the world’s countries and territories. School closures spell lost opportunities for girls and an increased risk of violence, exploitation and early marriage .

Governments can do more to protect girls education .

Measures focused specifically on supporting girls returning to school are urgently needed, including measures focused on girls from marginalized communities who are most at risk.

Goal 5. Gender equality

The pandemic has tested and even reversed progress in expanding women’s rights and opportunities. Reports of violence against women and girls, a “shadow” pandemic to COVID-19, are increasing in many parts of the world. COVID-19 is also intensifying women’s workload at home, forcing many to leave the labour force altogether.

Building forward differently and better will hinge on placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

Goal 6. Clean water and sanitation

In 2018, nearly 2.3 billion people lived in water-stressed countries. Without safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities, women and girls find it harder to lead safe, productive and healthy lives.

Change is possible .

Involve those most impacted in water management processes, including women. Women’s voices are often missing in water management processes. 

Goal 7. Affordable and clean energy

Increased demand for clean energy and low-carbon solutions is driving an unprecedented transformation of the energy sector. But women are being left out. Women hold only 32 per cent of renewable energy jobs.

We can do better .

Expose girls early on to STEM education, provide training and support to women entering the energy field, close the pay gap and increase women’s leadership in the energy sector.

Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth

The number of employed women declined by 54 million in 2020 and 45 million women left the labour market altogether. Women have suffered steeper job losses than men, along with increased unpaid care burdens at home.

We must do more to support women in the workforce .

Guarantee decent work for all, introduce labour laws/reforms, removing legal barriers for married women entering the workforce, support access to affordable/quality childcare.

Goal 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

The COVID-19 crisis has spurred striking achievements in medical research and innovation. Women’s contribution has been profound. But still only a little over a third of graduates in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field are female.

We can take action today.

 Quotas mandating that a proportion of research grants are awarded to women-led teams or teams that include women is one concrete way to support women researchers. 

Goal 10. Reduced inequalities

Limited progress for women is being eroded by the pandemic. Women facing multiple forms of discrimination, including women and girls with disabilities, migrant women, women discriminated against because of their race/ethnicity are especially affected.

Commit to end racism and discrimination in all its forms, invest in inclusive, universal, gender responsive social protection systems that support all women. 

Goal 11. Sustainable cities and communities

Globally, more than 1 billion people live in informal settlements and slums. Women and girls, often overrepresented in these densely populated areas, suffer from lack of access to basic water and sanitation, health care and transportation.

The needs of urban poor women must be prioritized .

Increase the provision of durable and adequate housing and equitable access to land; included women in urban planning and development processes.

Goal 12. Sustainable consumption and production; Goal 13. Climate action; Goal 14. Life below water; and Goal 15. Life on land

Women activists, scientists and researchers are working hard to solve the climate crisis but often without the same platforms as men to share their knowledge and skills. Only 29 per cent of featured speakers at international ocean science conferences are women.

 And yet we can change this .

Ensure women activists, scientists and researchers have equal voice, representation and access to forums where these issues are being discussed and debated. 

Goal 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

The lack of women in decision-making limits the reach and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergency recovery efforts. In conflict-affected countries, 18.9 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women, much lower than the global average of 25.6 per cent.

This is unacceptable .

It's time for women to have an equal share of power and decision-making at all levels.

Goal 17. Global partnerships for the goals

There are just 9 years left to achieve the Global Goals by 2030, and gender equality cuts across all 17 of them. With COVID-19 slowing progress on women's rights, the time to act is now.

Looking ahead

As it stands today, only one indicator under the global goal for gender equality (SDG5) is ‘close to target’: proportion of seats held by women in local government. In other areas critical to women’s empowerment, equality in time spent on unpaid care and domestic work and decision making regarding sexual and reproductive health the world is far from target. Without a bold commitment to accelerate progress, the global community will fail to achieve gender equality. Building forward differently and better will require placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

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IELTS Essay # Working Women

You should spend 40 minutes on this task. In the 21st century, many women have come out of their home to become what we call working women. What are the advantages and disadvantages of women joining the workforce? Write at least 250 words.

Sample Answer -One

When most countries were fighting for democracy and freedom from British rule, an internal turmoil was happening simultaneously. The struggle of women to get equal rights and by the end of 20th century, women have surely made their presence visible in the global world. Although, with more women working, there is growing economy and better lifestyle, certain areas like kids and home have surely got the back seat.

In this positive social change scenario with women becoming part of corporate organisations and, for that matter, establishing their own ventures, has helped them do things independently, making them more confident and even helped them gain self respect. This has in turn reduced the physical or mental abuse cases. In addition, women being more emotionally mature, a woman at higher level in an organisation can bring more stability to the company.

However, with more and more women joining multinational companies, has certainly given a back step to the children and social life. With both partners working, there is less of time for family life, leaving the children unhappy and lonely. It has often been seen that now kids are more likely to take a wrong step than ever before. Moreover, cases of depression and anxiety are more prevalent in kids than ever before. A woman is the person who makes a house, home. With women finding it difficult to juggle home and work, the quality of life gets deteriorated.

Overall, work has allowed women to grow individually, develop their skills and become more creative than ever before. However, when women are asked to between work and home, with no help from their partners, it leaves the family and kids feeling left out.

Sample Answer -Two

The economy of the world is booming, we have stable organizations, smarter kids and a lifestyle like never before. This is not because a magician has just changed the course of history. But because women have finally come out of their homes to find themselves, let their creative juices flow and to bring about a change in the world. But, just like the two faces of coin, with more and more woman working , there are certain areas of our lives, that have taken a back seat.

On the positive side, women who work, tend to be more financially independent. This allows them to do things just for themselves without being accountable to anyone in the family. Secondly, working women often  set an example for their kids, being a source of inspiration for their children. For example, once in an interview, Indira Nooyi’s daughter was asked what does she wants to be in her life. She simply said, she wants to be herself with all the great things her mother has taught her, by example.

However, on the downside, a woman who chooses to work, has more on her platter than her peers. She has to not only juggle between work and home but also take care of herself, which woman often forget to do. As a result, their is a steep decline in the health of a woman. Even more, a woman has to face, in many cases, sexual harassment at workplace, which makes life more miserable.

Overall, a business women, has so much to offer to the society in terms of experience, intelligence and personality. However, when there is no helping hand, it often leads her to being exhausted and tired, causing a work life imbalance.

In the 21st century, with more and more countries gaining freedom, there are more number of women joining the workforce. So, one can find an increased head count of women in companies, as employers, as entrepreneurs or as business heads. Although, some believe it is the best for the world that women start working while others are of the opinion that there are lot of disadvantages with women joining the workforce. Let us today have a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of working women.

ADVANTAGES –

• Smarter Kids – Working women tend to have smarter and more active kids when compared to their counterparts who don’t work. This is because a working women has to move out of the house leaving the house intact. Their kids understand better their responsibility and hence learn simple things faster.
• Financial Stability – A working women adds to the family financially. It is beneficial for a family in large as their are less financial issues and kids get the best as parents are able to afford it.
• More facilities for kids – When the family operates on money earned by both the husband and wife, there is surely more cash inflow, allowing the kids to be able to join better schools, better extra classes and learn things better.
• Inspiration- A working woman is often a inspiration for her kids. A child learns more from her mother than he or she learns from anyone else. A working woman is very easily able to teach her kids the importance of hard work, of balancing life and staying happy even in tough times.
• Freedom – A working woman is more independent than her counterparts. She is free to take her decisions independent of either her parents or her spouse. She knows that her choices and decisions directly impact her and with the freedom to take her own decisions, she becomes more creative and bold.
• Increased self-respect – A working women is entirely self dependent on herself and with she struggling with so many other things in life, she gains lot of respect for herself.

DISADVANTAGES –

• Health Issues – A working woman has to manage both house and office at equal level leaving her tired and emaciated at the end of the day. This often leaves very less time for the girl to take care of herself, making her more prone to diseases.
• More chances of children to fall into bad company – When a child gets more freedom it does makes them responsible. But, in some cases it even leads them to bad company and with working women, it is very difficult to find out what their kids are up to.
• Gap Between Kids and Mothers – Due to office work, most mothers are not able to attend their kids parent meeting and hence are not in very touch of their child’s progress. It often leaves them guilty and some children tend to go into stage of depression.
• Harassment at Workplace – Working women have to suffer harassment at workplace. It could be sexual harassment or mental harassment, leaving a lot of void in the life of a woman.
• More Burden – If a woman finds no helping hand, from her partner, it causes difficulty as she has to work 24 hours without any help, causing drift in the husband wife relationship.

Overall, there are several advantages of working women and if a woman gets a supportive hand from the society and her spouse, things can really be turned into something very beautiful with no disadvantages at all.

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Essay on Women Empowerment in English

• Updated on  
• May 3, 2024

Women empowerment is one of the most debated social topics. It means recognising the importance of gender equality, and women’s participation in decision-making and offering them equal opportunities in education, employment, others. Women empowerment talks about making women strong so that they can lead a healthy and prosperous life and contribute to the development of society. Today we will be discussing some sample essay on women empowerment, which will cover details like how can eliminate discrimination against women, challenge traditional gender roles, and promote equal opportunities for women in various aspects of life.

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Quick Read: Speech About Dreams

Long Essay on Women’s Empowerment

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Women empowerment refers to the practice of making women independent so that they can make their own decisions and take decisions without any familial or societal restrictions. In simple terms, it entitles women to take charge of their personal development. The patriarchal society has always deprived women of their rights.

The main motive of women’s empowerment is to help them stand equally with men. It is a foundational step to ensure the prosperous growth of a family as well as the country. By empowering women, the world would witness gender equality and help women from every stratum of society stand on their own and steer their lives as per their wishes.

Check out our 200+ Essay Topics for Students in English !

Women empowerment is the process of giving women the ability to live a happy and respected life in society. Women are empowered when they have unrestricted access to chances in a range of domains, such as education, profession, and lifestyle, among others. It involves things like education, awareness, literacy, and training to help them improve their position. It also involves decision-making authority. A woman feels powerful when she makes a significant decision. Empowering women is the most important factor in a country’s overall growth. If a household has just one earning member, while another family has both men and women earning, who will have a better standard of living? The solution is straightforward: a household in which both men and women work. As a result, a country where men and women work together grows more quickly.

‘Feminism does not aim to make women powerful. Women are already powerful. It is about influencing the way the rest of the world views your strength.” Women have always had fewer opportunities and possibilities to develop their talents and knowledge since ancient times. Although the world is made up of both men and women. But men were regarded as the family’s most powerful members. They were the family’s decision-makers and were in charge of making a living. Women, on the other hand, were believed to be responsible person for all home chores and child-rearing, and they were not engaged in making any important family decisions. The roles were assigned depending on gender. If we look at the whole picture, research shows that women’s subjects are either centred on their reproductive role and their body, or their economic position as workers. However, none of them is aimed at empowering women. Women’s Empowerment is a progressive technique of putting power in the hands of women for them to have a happy and respectable existence in society. Women are empowered when they have access to opportunities in several sectors, such as the right to an education, gender equality, a professional (equal wage) lifestyle, and others. However, there are no constraints or limitations. It involves training, awareness, and increasing their position via education, literacy, and decision-making authority. For the total growth of each country, women’s empowerment is the most essential sector. Previously, the men were the sole breadwinners in the household. Assume the household has one earning person; on the other side, suppose the family has both male and women earning members. Who will have a better way of life? The answer is simple: a household in which both the man and the woman work. As a result, when gender equality is prioritized, a country’s growth rate accelerates. Standing up for equality, women have empowered and spoken up for other women.’

Essay on Women Empowerment in 200 Words

‘Women’s empowerment encompasses more than just ensuring that women get their basic rights. In its truest form, women’s empowerment comprises the aspects of independence, equality as well as freedom of expression. Through this, the real strive lies in ensuring that we bring gender equality.

When given the right support, women have shone brilliantly in every field. Even in India, we have seen women handle diverse roles, be it a Prime Minister, Astronaut , Entrepreneur, Banker and much more. Further, women are also considered the backbone of a family. From domestic chores to nurturing children, they handle multiple responsibilities. This is why they are great at multitasking and often many working women efficiently juggle between professional and personal responsibilities. While the urban cities have working women, the rural areas have still restrained them to household chores. How can we aspire to prosper as a nation where every girl does not get access to education or make their own choices? India is a country where we worship goddesses while we don’t bother thinking about gender equality. 

Hence, for all our mothers, sisters and daughters we must aim at creating an environment of integrity. We must boost their confidence to make them capable enough to make their decisions in every phase of life and this is how we can strive towards bringing women empowerment.’

Recommended Read: Essay on Sustainable Development: Format & Examples

Popular women can play an important role when it comes to empowering other women. These influential women are aware of the difficulties faced by women in our society and can see their problems from their perspectives, as they have experienced similar situations. Nadia Murad Basee, a German human rights activist once said, “I want to be the last girl in the world with a story like mine.” Some other popular and influential women in the world are:

• Gloria Marie Steinem
• Malala Yousafzai
• Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Jane Seymour Fonda
• Betty Friedan
• Halima Aden

Quick Read: Speech About Life

Almost all countries, regardless of how progressive, have a history of mistreating women. To put it another way, women from all over the world have been defiant to achieve their current standing. While Western nations continue to make progress, third-world countries such as India continue to lag in terms of women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is more important than ever in India. India is one of the countries where women are not safe. This is due to a variety of factors.

Not only that, but horrific crimes against women such as rape, acid attacks, the dowry system, honour killings, domestic violence, and other forms of violence against women continue to occur throughout India. Women should account for 50% of the entire population. However, due to female foeticide practises, which are still prevailing in the rural and underprivileged sections of Indian societies, the girl-child population is rapidly declining, affecting the country’s sex ratio. Furthermore, the education and freedom scenario is extremely regressive in this situation.

Women are not permitted to continue their education and are married off at a young age. In certain areas, men continue to dominate women, as though it is the woman’s responsibility to labour for him indefinitely. They don’t let them go out or have any form of freedom and personal life. As a result, we can see how women’s empowerment is a pressing issue. We must equip these women with the tools they need to stand up for themselves and never be victims of injustice.

Also Read: Women’s Equality Day

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There is a wide range of approaches and methods to empower women. Individuals and the government must work together to achieve this. Girls’ education should be made obligatory so that they do not become illiterate and unable to support themselves.

Women, regardless of gender, must be given equal chances in all fields. Women empowerment may also be achieved through government-sponsored programmes as well as on an individual level.

On a personal level, we should begin to appreciate women and provide them with chances equal to males. We should promote and encourage them to pursue jobs, further education, and entrepreneurial endeavours, among other things.

To empower women, the government has implemented programmes such as the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, Mahila Shakti Kendra, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana , and others. Apart from these programmes, we can all help women by eradicating societal problems such as the dowry system and child marriage. These simple actions will improve women’s status in society and help them feel more powerful.

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“To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.” Hillary Clinton

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“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” Madeleine Albright

Before we begin with the essay samples on Women’s Empowerment, take a look at the following tips you must keep in mind while drafting an essay: 

• Analyse the different topics carefully and pick according to your knowledge and familiarisation with the topic.  
• Plan your time wisely and bifurcate it for outlining, writing and revision. 
• Highlight/underline your key sentences for each paragraph.
• Emphasise your introduction and conclusion while also keeping the main body of the content as concise as possible. 
• Thoroughly revise it after completion.

Must Read: How to Write an Essay on Disaster Management?

“Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong, it’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” G.D. Anderson

Women are taught to mould themselves based on others’ preferences and men are taught to lead because, at the end of the day, women have to manage household chores whereas men are the heroes saving their families and providing them financial support. This is the stereotype that has existed for centuries in India and one of the reasons women are denied basic human rights in society. A woman is denied the right to raise her opinions even in her household matters, political or financial viewpoints are far behind.  Women are born leaders and if given the opportunity can excel in every field. We live in a male-dominated society where a male has every right to do whatever he desires however thought in women’s minds is sacred. For centuries, women were not allowed to eat before men or sit in front of other men. Gender equality and women empowerment is a major concern globally. Gender equality starts with providing the same and equal resources of education to both genders. Education of girl child should also be a priority and not just an option. An educated woman will be able to build a better life for herself and the ones surrounding her. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential for the growth of women in society. Women empowerment ensures that every female gets an opportunity to get an education, seek professional training, and spread awareness. However, gender quality will ensure that access to resources is provided equally to both genders and ensure equal participation. Even at the professional level women face gender inequality because a male candidate is promoted way before a female candidate. The mindset should be changed and only deserving candidates should be promoted. Gender quality is a key step towards sustainable development and ensures basic human rights for everyone.

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“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” Melinda Gates

‘Education is the biggest tool in women’s empowerment and also a factor that helps in the overall development of the country. Education can bring a change in women’s life. As the first prime minister of India once said “If you educate a man you educate an individual, however, if you educate a woman you educate a whole family.

Women empowered means mother India empowered” An educated woman will promote the education of other females around her, mentor them and also be a better guide to her children. Education helps women gain self-confidence, esteem, ability to provide financial support. Education will also help to reduce the infant mortality rate because an educated woman is aware of health care, laws, and her rights.

Educating a woman will benefit her and also the development of society. With proper education, women can achieve more socially, and economically and build their careers. Women are still being denied their right to education in rural parts of India. Education will also reduce child marriage which is still practised in some parts of India also help in controlling overpopulation.

The government has launched various schemes over the years to create awareness around women’s education such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan , Operation Black-Board , Beti Padhaoo Beti Bachao , and many more. Education helps women to identify the good and bad and change their outlook, way of thinking, and way of handling things. Education helps women to become independent. Indian women have the lowest literacy rate as compared to other countries.

Education is a fundamental right of all and no one should be denied the right to education. Education helps to meet the necessities of life, and confidence to raise a voice against domestic violence or sexual harassment. Be a part of a change and empower a woman with the help of education.’

Here is an Essay on Education System

“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” Michelle Obama

Women have been facing issues since the day they were born. Fighting for their rights, society’s stereotypes, and their freedom. Women’s Empowerment means encouraging women through education, at a professional level, accepting their opinions, and providing them with the right they desire. Women should not stay behind someone’s shadow and not be able to express themselves. The main motive of women’s empowerment is to give women a chance to outshine others and get equal rights in society. The first step of women’s empowerment is literacy. A well-educated woman is confident, outspoken, and able to make decisions. Especially in a country like India, If women get a chance to study they can be a prime minister like Indira Gandhi, IPS like Kiran Bedi , or become a famous CEO like Indira Nooyi .

The need for women’s empowerment has existed for a long time but only in the last few years, it has become popular. Women’s empowerment is not just a fight for equal rights. Women empowerment is the upliftment of women from a society constantly pulling them down. In a country like India where female goddesses are worshipped at the same time a woman faces sexual harassment, is denied the right to education, her voice is suppressed and becomes the next case of domestic violence. Indian society will only be able to evolve when they stop putting constant pressure on women and allow them to share their thoughts with others. A woman in India is restricted to household chores and taking care of family members. Women’s Empowerment is the need of the hour in India because awareness among women is important for them to understand their rights. If they are aware of their basic rights only then women will be able to fight for it. The first step towards women’s empowerment starts with supporting their opinions. Don’t mock them or bury their opinions. Boost their confidence and build their self-esteem. Encourage them to pursue their dreams, provide resources for help and be their mentor. Women have the ability not only to shape their lives but also to shape the world. Equal opportunities and the right to make their own decisions are the basics to start with women’s empowerment.

Women’s empowerment is desperately required in today’s cultures. It is critical for women’s self-esteem as well as for society. Women have the right to participate equally in education, society, the economy, and politics. Women may participate in society because they have the freedom to select their religion, language, employment, and other activities.

Women’s Empowerment is the process of providing women with all of the rights and amenities available in society so that they can live freely and without fear or limitation. Women should be granted the same rights as men in society, with no gender discrimination.

Female or women empowerment, according to Keshab Chandra Mandal, may be classified into five categories: social, educational, economic, political, and psychological.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a collection of Principles that provide businesses with direction on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

Improved female education leads to higher levels of economic growth because women spend 90%of their earnings back on their families, whereas males only invest 30-40% of their earnings. This is only one example of how women’s empowerment has a beneficial impact. Like this, there are several other benefits and positive sides of women’s empowerment

Gender Discrimination, Sexual Abuse and Harassment, Education, Child Marriage, etc.

Great social reformers in the past like  Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Acharya Vinobha Bhave and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar  etc abolished ghastly practices like sati and child marriage and worked relentlessly in the past for the upliftment of women in India.

Equal pay, financial independence etc are some examples of women empowerment.

In the Indian constitution, many provisions include women empowerment such as Article 15 which enables the state to make special provisions for women.

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Working moms are fueled by flexibility—here’s why

May 12, 2024 Generations of women have fought for faster career advancement and more equitable representation at work. Yet despite some hard-fought gains, women still carry out a disproportionate amount of childcare and household work. Indeed, 38 percent of mothers with young children say that without workplace flexibility, they would have had to leave their company or reduce their work hours. That’s according to McKinsey’s ninth Women in the Workplace  report, conducted in partnership with LeanIn.Org, which surveyed more than 27,000 employees and 270 senior HR leaders.

Still, workplace flexibility isn’t just a woman’s thing. This Mother’s Day, join McKinsey’s Alexis Krivkovich  and Lareina Yee  as they reflect on four myths  about women in the workplace discussed in the 2023 report. A few of these myths cover old ground, but given the notable lack of progress, they warrant repeating. Then, check out additional insights featuring both the myths and the realities of women in the workplace.

Busting myths about women in the workplace

Women in the Workplace 2023

Meeting the challenge of moms’ ‘double double shift’ at home and work

Are women’s prime working years in peril?

Breaking up to break through

Author Talks: Grace Puma shares how working women can shatter the glass ceiling

Making government an even better place for women to work

Author Talks: Joann S. Lublin on lessons for working mothers, their families, and their employers

Parent, employee, all of the above? Eight working mothers on the realities of post-pandemic life

MORE FROM MCKINSEY

Liz Hilton Segel: What I’ve learned about life and leadership from my mom and daughter

Chart of the Day: Careers constrained

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Working Women, Literary Ladies: The Industrial Revolution and Female Aspiration

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This book explores the mental and literary awakening that many working-class women in the United States experienced when they left home to work in factories early in the 19th century. It examines the ways that their hopes for lives of full development were fulfilled, exploited, and often disappointed — a process repeated when immigrant women entered factories and sweatshops early in the 20th century. It investigates their literary productions, from the New England factory magazine , the Lowell Offering , to Emma Goldman's periodical, Mother Earth ; from Lucy Larcom's epic poem of women operatives, An Idyl of Work , to Theresa Malkiel's novel of sweatshop workers, The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker . Working women's fascination with books and writing evolved in the context of an American romanticism that encouraged ideals of self-reliance, although not in factory “girls”. Their efforts to pursue a life of the mind while engaged in manual labor also coincided with the emergence of middle-class women writers from private lives into the literary marketplace. However, while middle-class women risked forfeiting their femininity by trying to earn money, factory women were accused of betraying their class by attempting to be literary. The book traces the romantic literariness of several generations of working-class women and the broader literary responses to them from male romantic authors, popular novelists, and union writers for the Knights of Labor. The most significant literary interaction, however, is with middle-class women writers, many of whom responded sympathetically to workers' economic and social inequities, but balked at promoting their artistic and intellectual equality.

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — India — Working women in India

Working Women in India

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Published: Jan 15, 2019

Words: 673 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

• Acceptance As Working Professionals
• Balancing Work-Family Life
• Travelling For Work Is Not Acceptable
• Safety Of Working Women
• Unequal Pay

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Essay: Working Women and Family Life

• Essay: Working Women and Family…

Many women today are facing choices that their mothers never had to face. One of these choices is whether or not to go back to work after having a child. This was practically unheard of in the 1950’s. In the 1990’s it is not whether the mother will or will not go back to work, rather a question of when. When did the choice become set in stone? Why do the mothers of today have to work outside the home versus working in the home, much like their mothers did.

When one thinks of the subject of working mothers, many differing opinions come to mind. What will happen to the child, will the mother have sufficient time to bond with the baby, how will household chores be divided, and so on. When thinking of working women, two models come to mind.

One of which is paid employment that has a protective and beneficial mediating effect. Employment protects women against certain negative aspects of being full-time homemakers and mothers, such as monotonous housework, dependence on the male partner for financial and emotional support, increases self-esteem because they are contributing to the world they live in. These women receive a renewed interest in life because they are in the thick of it.

They are living life to the fullest. This model is the one that is constantly referred to as “bad” because it paints the woman as someone who does not really care about the effect of working will have on the baby. In fact, most of these mothers have made this choice with painstaking care. They are constantly feeling what everyone is thinking, and this, in turn, causes undue stress on these mothers.

The other model of the working mom is the one most people think of when discussing working mothers. This model is one of a woman having too many demands of her –housewife, mother, and paid employee – which may lead to role strain due to fatigue and role overload.

The competing demands of such roles may also lead to conflict and psychological stress. Both of these models can be seen in the working mother at any given time. They are simply a fact of life, a by-product of the world in which we live. Mothers are constantly jumping back and forth in these roles, striving to find a sense of balance.

But is there such a thing? Most of the time the scales are tipped one way or another, there is never a true sense of balance. I believe this is how the mothers survive. If the scales were balanced, it would seem that they would either be cruel heartless women, simply concerned with their jobs, and caring less about their children.

This is simply not the case. It seems that the ideal situation is when the father helps around the house, to alleviate some of the stress the mother feels from working and the ability for the mother to have a flexible schedule.

Role decisions within the family unit need to increase when the mother returns to work. In order for both partners to be happy and feel fulfilled, there needs to be a clear definition of roles within the family unit.

This is something that should be discussed and decided well before the mother returns to work. In making role decisions, the parents must somehow combine their perceptions of the rewards and costs associated with each role in order to determine which combination of roles will provide them with the best role position. In other words, they need to figure out what they can do best for the family when both parents work.

If this is accomplished, the family will function better as a unit, and stress will be alleviated for all.

Another setback that is constantly facing working mothers is that their work is looked upon as optional, it is also viewed as less important than their partner’s. When these attitudes are confronted, it makes the transition for the working mother all the more difficult.

The constant backlash from the public makes these mothers feel so guilty that some may even quit just to alleviate the stress. In order for working mothers to feel needed, and to have their work mean something, others need to look upon their work as something substantial, something important, not simply an option.

When workplaces provide flexible scheduling and childcare services, these are the first steps in getting working mothers into the workforce and alleviate their feelings of guilt.

Many working mothers today are facing the reality of the “second shift”. This is where they put in a full day of work at the office only to come home to start their “second shift”, the one that entails all the housework and the raising of the family.

Mothers feel that they have no choice in the matter, in order to be the “perfect” mother, they need to put in this shift because it is their responsibility. But why is it their responsibility? Why does the father feel it is his right to come home and relax when the mother is busy fixing dinner and disciplining children. In order for the working mother to keep her sanity, the father needs to jump in and help with the chores that were previously held by the homemaker.

In this day and age, the ideal homemaker is a thing of the past. Many women today want and desire careers and a place in this world. They want to stand on their own two feet, to become a self-sustaining individual, free of dependence on another individual.

When the mother considers the idea of working and raising a family, many things need to be considered. The responsibilities need to be divided evenly so as to alleviate the stress that will evolve due to all the changes. For working mothers, understanding is first and foremost needed in order for psychological well-being.

They need to feel that their work is important and necessary and that they are not sacrificing their child’s well-being in order to benefit themselves. The danger involved is that the mothers could feel so guilty in working that they feel that they are abandoning their child to the caregivers that they are in contact with daily.

The mothers need a support system in order to survive the roller coaster involved when they go back to work. If all these factors are taken into consideration, the transition to working mom will be that much easier for the entire family and the child will not suffer.

Bibliography

Brannen, Julia, Moss, Peter. Managing Mothers: Dual Earner Households After Maternity Leave. London: Unwin Hyman, 1991.

Mahony, Rhona. Kidding Ourselves: Breadwinning, Babies, and Bargaining Power. New York: BasicBooks, 1995.

Thomson, Elizabeth Jean. Employment and childbearing Decisions of Mothers of Young Children. Seattle, University of Washington, 1979.

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Author:  William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

Tutor and Freelance Writer. Science Teacher and Lover of Essays. Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2024 | Creative Commons 4.0

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It Took Decades, but Japan’s Working Women Are Making Progress

Employers have taken steps to change a male-dominated workplace culture. But women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.

By Motoko Rich ,  Hisako Ueno and Kiuko Notoya

Reporting from Tokyo

When the future empress of Japan entered the country’s elite diplomatic corps in 1987, a year after a major equal employment law went into effect, she was one of only three female recruits. Known then as Masako Owada, she worked long hours and had a rising career as a trade negotiator. But she lasted just under six years in the job, giving it up to marry Crown Prince — and now Emperor — Naruhito.

Much has changed for Japan’s Foreign Ministry — and, in some ways, for Japanese women more broadly — in the ensuing three decades.

Since 2020, women have comprised nearly half of each entering class of diplomats, and many women continue their careers after they marry. These advances, in a country where women were predominantly hired only for clerical positions into the 1980s, show how the simple power of numbers can, however slowly, begin to remake workplace cultures and create a pipeline for leadership.

For years, Japan has promoted women in the workplace to aid its sputtering economy. Private-sector employers have taken some steps, like encouraging male employees to do more around the house, or setting limits on after-work outings that can complicate child care. But many women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.

The Foreign Ministry, led by a woman , Yoko Kamikawa, exceeds both other government agencies and familiar corporate names like Mitsubishi, Panasonic and SoftBank in an important sign of progress: its placement of women in career-track, professional jobs.

With more women in the ministry’s ranks, said Kotono Hara, a diplomat, “the way of working is drastically changing,” with more flexible hours and the option to work remotely.

Ms. Hara was one of only six women who joined the ministry in 2005. Last year, she was the event manager for a meeting of world leaders that Japan hosted in Hiroshima.

In the run-up to the Group of 7 summit, she worked in the office until 6:30 p.m. and then went home to feed and bathe her preschool-age child, before checking in with her team online later in the night. Earlier in her career, she assumed such a job was not the “kind of position that would be done by a mommy.”

Some of the progress for women at the Foreign Ministry has come as men from elite universities have turned instead to high-paying banking and consulting jobs, and educated women have come to see the public sector as appealing.

Yet as women move up in the diplomatic corps, they — like their counterparts at other employers — must juggle long working hours on top of shouldering the bulk of the duties on the home front .

Ministry staff members often work until 9 or 10 at night, and sometimes much later. Those hours tend to fall more heavily on women, said Shiori Kusuda, 29, who joined the ministry seven years ago and departed earlier this year for a consulting job in Tokyo.

Many of her male bosses at the Foreign Ministry, she said, went home to wives who took care of their meals and laundry, while her female colleagues completed domestic chores themselves. Men are encouraged to take paternity leave, but if they do, it is usually a matter of days or weeks.

Some parts of the culture have changed, Ms. Kusuda said — male colleagues proactively served her beer at after-work drinking sessions, rather than expecting her to serve them. But for women “who need to do their laundry or cooking after they go home, one hour of overtime work matters a lot,” Ms. Kusuda said.

In 2021, the latest year for which government statistics are available, married working women with children took on more than three-quarters of household chores . That load is compounded by the fact that Japanese employees, on average, work nearly 22 hours of overtime a month, according to a survey last year by Doda, a job-hunting website.

In many professions, additional hours are much higher, a reality that prompted the government to recently cap overtime at 45 hours a month .

Before the Equal Opportunity Employment Act went into effect in 1986, women were mostly hired for “ ochakumi ,” or “tea-serving,” jobs. Employers rarely recruited women for positions that could lead to executive, managerial or sales jobs.

Today, Japan is turning to women to cope with severe labor shortages. Still, while more than 80 percent of women ages 25 to 54 work, they account for just slightly more than a quarter of full-time, permanent employees. Only about one in eight managers are women, according to government data .

Some executives say women simply choose to limit their careers. Japanese women are “not as ambitious compared to women in the global market,” said Tetsu Yamaguchi, the director of global human resources for Fast Retailing, the clothing giant that owns Uniqlo. “Their priority is taking care of their child rather than developing their career.”

Worldwide, 45 percent of the company’s managers are women. In Japan, that proportion is just over a quarter.

Experts say the onus is on employers to make it easier for women to combine professional success and motherhood. Career barriers for women could hurt the broader economy, and as the nation’s birthrate dwindles , crushing expectations at work and at home can discourage ambitious women from having children.

At Sony, just one in nine of its managers in Japan are women. The company is taking small measures to support working mothers, such as offering courses for prospective fathers in which they are taught to change diapers and feed infants.

During a recent class at the company’s Tokyo headquarters, Satoko Sasaki, 35, who was seven months pregnant, watched her husband, Yudai, 29, a Sony software engineer, strap on a prosthetic belly simulating the physical sensations of pregnancy.

Ms. Sasaki, who works as an administrator at another company in Tokyo, said she was moved that her husband’s employer was trying to help men “understand my situation.”

At her own company, she said, tearing up, “I don’t have much support” from senior male colleagues.

Takayuki Kosaka, the course instructor, displayed a graph showing the time invested at home by a typical mother and father during the first 100 days of an infant’s life.

“The dad isn’t doing anything!” said Mr. Kosaka, pointing at a blue bar representing the father’s time working from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. “If he’s coming home at 11 p.m., doesn’t that mean that he also went out drinking?” he added.

After-work drinking parties with colleagues are all but obligatory at many Japanese companies, exacerbating the overwork culture. To curtail such commitments, Itochu, a conglomerate that owns the convenience store chain Family Mart among other businesses, mandates that all such parties end by 10 p.m. — still a time that makes child care difficult.

Rina Onishi, 24, who works at Itochu’s Tokyo headquarters, said she attended such parties three times a week. That is progress, she said: In the past, there were many more.

Drinking nights come on top of long days. The company now allows staff members to start working as early as 5 a.m., a policy intended in part to support parents who want to leave earlier. But many employees still work overtime. Ms. Onishi arrives at the office by 7:30 a.m. and typically stays until after 6 p.m.

Some women set limits on their work hours, even if it means forgoing promotions. Maiko Itagaki, 48, labored at a punishing pace as an advertising copywriter before landing in the hospital with a cerebral hemorrhage. After recovering, she married and gave birth to a son. But she was at the office when her mother called to tell her she had missed her son’s first steps.

“I thought, ‘Why am I working?’” Ms. Itagaki said.

She moved to a firm that conducts direct mail campaigns where she clocks in at 9 a.m. and out at 6 p.m. She declined a promotion to management. “I thought I would end up sacrificing my private time,” she said. “It felt like they just wanted me to do everything.”

At the Foreign Ministry, Hikariko Ono, Japan’s ambassador to Hungary, was the only woman out of 26 diplomats hired in 1988.

She postponed having a child out of fear that her bosses would think she did not take her career seriously. These days, she reminds younger female colleagues that if they want to have children, they are not alone.

“You can rely on the day-care center or your parents or friends,” she said. “Or even, of course, your husband.”

Motoko Rich is a reporter in Tokyo, leading coverage of Japan for The Times. More about Motoko Rich

Hisako Ueno is a reporter and researcher based in Tokyo, writing on Japanese politics, business, labor, gender and culture. More about Hisako Ueno

Women are succeeding at work like never before, but it’s ruining their mental health. How companies can better support them—and reduce turnover

Good morning. Although women are playing an increasingly larger role in the global workforce , a new survey by Deloitte—of some 5,000 women across 10 countries — finds that at least half of them reported higher stress levels than a year ago, and more took time off due to mental health reasons.

The women surveyed are in roles ranging from non-managerial to C-suite and board positions. Mental health (48%) trailed only financial security (51%) and women’s rights (50%) among their overall concerns, and results appear strongly linked to hours worked. Among those working just their contracted hours, about half described their mental health as good—a figure that plummeted to 23% for those who regularly worked extra. And just 37% of women said they felt able to switch off from work.

With fewer women also reporting that they felt supported by employers when it came to work-life balance issues, more were likely to switch jobs, according to the report, which also noted that 43% said they expected to stay with their current employer for just one to two years. Only 29% said they expected to stay at their job for three to five years, and just 9% said they’d remain for more than five years.

But a small subset of companies is making strides, according to Deloitte, which defines “Gender Equality Leaders” as employers that have built inclusive cultures that value work-life balance, and where women and their careers are supported. About 62% of women at such firms said they intended to stay with their employer for more than three years, compared with just 13% of those at firms defined as “Gender Equality Lagging.” And in terms of progressing into a senior leadership role, figures at those types of firms, respectively, came in at 92% versus 31%.

Regarding senior leadership positions, in an April Fortune opinion piece , Tacy M. Byham, CEO of DDI , a global leadership consulting firm, argues that gender equality at work still has a ways to go:

“While many business leaders are celebrating the fact that women CEOs now run more than 10% of the Fortune 500 and JetBlue made headlines this year for appointing Joanna Geraghty as the first female CEO of a major U.S. airline, I’m sitting here with many other women leaders asking, ‘That’s it?!’ Certainly, any progress is good, but at this rate of change, we won’t see an equal number of men and women in CEO seats until the next century .”

Many women early in their careers, Byham notes, are excluded from talent pools that receive more attention and guidance on climbing the latter. They “don’t get the skills development, leadership investment, and mentorship they need to advance—and that their male counterparts take for granted; and this mentorship gap only widens as women progress in their careers.”

Deloitte notes that just one in 10 women surveyed said their employer was taking concrete steps to fulfill its commitment to gender equality. According to the report: Women who work for Gender Equality Leaders, companies that demonstrate this focus, “feel safer, are more comfortable disclosing challenges with their health and well-being, and are significantly more likely to stay with their employer for longer.”

Sheryl Estrada [email protected]

María Soledad Davila Calero curated the Leaderboard and Overheard sections of today’s newsletter.

Leaderboard

Daniella Turenshine was named CFO at the beach and surf lifestyle brand REEF , a portfolio company within Charlesbank Capital Partners. Turenshine most recently served as the CFO at FIGS since December 2021 and, prior to that, she served as FIGS’ SVP of finance and strategy. Earlier in her career, Turenshine served as VP of Garnett Station Partners. 

Joel Day was appointed EVP and CFO at EyeCarePartner , a provider of clinically integrated eye care, effective June 1. Day comes from Kindred Healthcare, where he originally served as controller and CFO for the operational and skilled nursing divisions before becoming CFO of the broader operation.

Overall job numbers for April were lower than expected with the U.S. adding 175,000, the smallest monthly increase in six months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released on May 3. In April, unemployment rose to 3.9%, up from 3.8% in March, but remained below 4% for the 27th consecutive month . Wages grew 0.2% in April from the prior month, slightly below the 0.3% that was forecasted.

“When wages and employment levels trend down it puts less pressure on prices, which is why even the slight declines in this job report caught economists’ eye,” Fortune ’s Paolo Confino writes. His report offers insights from analysts on the implications of the latest jobs report.

Going deeper

“Five Myths About Generative AI That Leaders Should Know,” an article in Wharton's business journal, debunked five misconceptions about generative AI that could stand in the way of implementation, according to experts from Wharton and the “Magnificent Seven” tech companies. The experts write that myth no. 1 is generative AI tools are available for free or minimal cost.

“The reason why some of the industry is having a challenge is because I think there isn't technology in place today to do exactly what they’re looking for. But hopefully, we can all get there.”

— Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said on a call with analysts referencing the Biden Administration’s new rules that make refund policies more friendly to customers and more uniform across airlines.

This is the web version of CFO Daily, a newsletter on the trends and individuals shaping corporate finance. Sign up for free .

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How Celibate Women Became a Threat

A mid a number of recent pivots, including scrapping the women-message-first system it launched with 10 years ago, dating app Bumble recently unveiled a new ad campaign that seemed to take aim at its primary demographic: women. Over the weekend of May 11, a number of TikTok users in the Los Angeles area posted the dating app’s new anti-celibacy billboards, which appear to tease women who have sworn off sex and dating. One billboard reads, “You know full well that celibacy is not the answer.” The campaign comes two weeks after a commercial announcing “the new Bumble,” which shows a woman who becomes a nun because she’s fed up with dating, only to immediately relapse once she sees a hot guy. The billboards generated considerable backlash from women on TikTok, with a creator @Fleeksie posting , “LADIES! The patriarchy is SCARED!! They’re losing us and they’re panicking!!” Julia Fox, for her part, commented on one of the posts: “2.5 years of celibacy and never been better tbh.”

The overwhelmingly negative response to the campaign pushed Bumble to issue an apology on May 13, acknowledging the many valid reasons that move someone towards celibacy: restrictions on reproductive rights, recovering from trauma or abuse, or existing as asexual. “We have heard the concerns shared about the ad’s language and understand that rather than highlighting a current sentiment towards dating, it may have had a negative impact on some of our community,” a Bumble spokesperson shared in a statement to TIME . The app has promised to remove the ads, as well as donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. But in attempting to make light of a social climate in which, as they worded it in their apology, “a community” (read: women) “are frustrated by modern dating,” Bumble ended up, inadvertently or not, mirroring the language many women experience when they tell men they are not interested. The sexless, “crazy cat lady” trope is a tale as old as time, but in the context of rising incel ideology—which psychologists partly attribute to women’s increased economic and social power—the sentiment still feels like a toxic, all-too-familiar neg.

Read More: Bumble Apologizes After Getting Stung for Anti-Celibacy Campaign

Desiree (all last names in this article have been kept private to preserve anonymity), for instance, is a 26-year-old woman who is no longer using dating apps because she felt people “were using physical connection to make up for the lack of emotional intimacy.” She has found that the emotional intimacy she craves—something she needs to be physical with someone—is increasingly hard to come by. “I find myself constantly setting boundaries due to the normalization of hookup culture by apps,” she told me. Too often she’d be on dates where, all of a sudden, someone would lean in for a kiss and get a bit touchy without respecting her wishes to connect on a personal level first. “For me, it’s not worth the hassle, or the risk that someone might not respect or abide by my decision.”

Even beyond the persistent pressure from individuals to participate in hookup culture, as Desiree experienced, the dating industry at large is perpetually badgering single people to redownload, buy premium subscriptions, and remain in the romantic marketplace. This begs the question: Has a celibate woman become more threatening than a sexual one?

Increasingly, women are both sexual and celibate at once, and perhaps that makes them doubly threatening: A new generation is proving that sexual empowerment doesn’t hinge on having lots of sex, or even sex at all. In 2023, I wrote about the rise of “celibate sluts,” people who consider themselves sexual but have taken big steps back from sex, usually when they realize sex isn’t serving them, and found peace. One 23-year-old woman told me she and her friends referred to themselves as sluts “to signal us being hot and in control of our bodies,” regardless of sexual activity. Furthermore, growing visibility surrounding asexuality has given many people the freedom to redefine intimacy for themselves.  

Across age groups and genders, studies suggest that people are having less sex, a phenomenon that’s been called the “ sex recession ” and largely cast in a negative light. In 2021, the General Social Survey found that over a quarter of Americans over 18 hadn’t had sex once in the past year, which is a 30-year high. Not to mention women, overall, are opting out of dating: 2020 Pew Research Data found 61% of single men were actively looking for dates, compared to 38% of women. Rather than examining the social, economic, and political conditions that may make sex and dating unappealing for individuals, particularly women, the impetus is put on the individuals to fix it. 

What I found when reporting my book, Laid and Confused: Why We Tolerate Bad Sex and How to Stop , is that young people are consciously opting out of sex and dating, largely due to swiping burnout, but also due to setting higher standards for romantic partners. This can be a beautiful, empowering choice—one that I can speak to from personal experience. After a nearly two-year break from dating, which included my recent year of cancer treatment , I decided to dip my toe back in the waters and almost immediately forfeited the few shreds of peace I’d been clinging to. If I, a person recovering from cancer, didn’t respond to prospective suitors fast enough, I received weirdly snarky follow-ups like “don’t be too shy” or “lol ok.” I felt overwhelmed by how many men’s profiles declared they weren’t “looking for a pen pal,” or that they wanted to meet up right away without much back-and-forth (which is actually a tool women use to vet potential partners, for their safety.) To exist on a dating app is to be constantly inundated by the pressure to meet up, regardless of your readiness. And for women, that pressure is reinforced by existing in a world that hates them for being single .

The truth is, being single is incredibly healthy for people who want or need to be, and studies show that single women without children are often happier than their married counterparts with children. Celibacy can facilitate some of this joy. “I would rather be at home on my couch hanging out with my plants,” said Sunah, a 41-year-old woman who found that when she raised her dating standards, her sex life dried up. “People are like, ‘Why aren’t you dating?’ They feel like it’s sad. Everyone acts like their shining accomplishment is being romantically partnered.” (Her guy friends, in particular, accuse her of being “too mean” and “too quick to dismiss people.”) 

Online conversations about the “male loneliness epidemic” tend to rope in women as a potential solve, particularly on incel forums. Yes, male loneliness is a real problem: A 2021 American Perspectives survey found that the number of men who reported not having a single close friend had quintupled to 15% since 1990. For unmarried men under 30, 25% say they have no close friends at all. Consistently, studies show that men have a harder time making and keeping friendships. But women don’t owe men companionship, even if those men are lonely. While all Americans are reporting fewer close friendships than they had before the pandemic, the same American Perspectives Survey found that young women are more likely than young men to lean on their friends for support. While loneliness affects all genders, women who opt out of dating are more likely to do so by choice. If men’s loneliness is stemming from a lack of sex, many women clearly benefit from that lack.

Read More: Why Gen Z Is Ditching Dating Apps

Alex, a 30-year-old woman who feels enormous “relief” to be on a dating app hiatus, told me, “I’ve recently realized how exhausted I am from the grind of it all and wanted to take a break to rebuild myself a little bit, take a pause from setting up dates all the time, save money, and reevaluate my feelings on dating in general.” 

When it comes to the business of dating apps, the most relevant principle isn’t necessarily patriarchal, but inherently capitalist: celibate, app-less women are not lucrative, an issue that the entire industry is grappling with. The business of dating, in general, is floundering: Dating app downloads are starting to fall , and a Pew Research study found that more people are dissatisfied with the apps than ever before. 

“Most of the time when I tell people I’m not dating, they immediately view it as a negative and start saying, ‘Well, you just need to put time in on the apps,’” a 30-year-old woman who is currently celibate told me. “And of course, society reminds me that I am elderly and should have ten kids right now. Thankfully, I’m on a particularly anti-dating side of TikTok though, which helps.” 

Alex, on the other hand,  says it’s been hard “to quiet the societal voice of ‘you’re in your prime time!’” Especially when she scrolls through so much content about dating online. But she’s not anti-dating, just anti-dating-in-a-way-that-doesn’t-work-for-her.  

“I’m not opposed to seeing people if I were to meet them in the wild,” she told me. “But I plan to keep my apps deleted for a while and that in itself feels really good.”

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