Women’s Worth

Redefining Value Beyond the Numbers

So much of how we establish our sense of worth is tied to how much we work and strive to care for others. But what is our value as women? While equal pay advocates push for similar monetary value for equal work, there's a broader issue at play. Women's contributions—especially in caregiving roles—are often undervalued because they frequently involve unpaid or low-paid work. This undervaluation not only reflects in wage gaps but also in how society measures worth, ignoring the essential, unpaid labour women provide in their families and communities.

“Your worth is so much more than how you look”
Kate Winslet

The Price of Appearance and Size Discrimination

Despite this, society often places a price on appearance, with weight being a significant factor. The Economics of Thin highlights that women's income often has an inverse relationship with weight. A UK review found that overweight women are paid 10% less than their thinner counterparts, revealing a disturbing bias not seen in men.

Does remote working increase the gender pay gap?

Although the gender pay gap may be narrowing overall, recent evidence shows that there is significant variation when it comes to remote working. Men who work from home earn a third more than female remote-workers.

This may explain recent findings that companies who offer remote working, have a greater proportion of female workers and that women are more likely to leave jobs with a long commute. Remote work may ease some of the motherhood juggling although this comes at a price. 

Unequal Burden of Household Chores

Evidence suggests that gender has more impact on household labour than any other factor, including employment or earnings. Women not only take on the majority of physical household chores, but this load also increases significantly when they start a family. Alongside these tasks, women often carry the 'mental load,' managing everything from daily schedules to remembering important dates. This imbalance adds to the physical and emotional weight many women bear. In addition, women are providing more informal care and unpaid care than men.

Undervaluing women’s work

Work in the home increases with the arrival of children and yet those paid to do domestic work and childcare are among the lowest average earners. It is ironic that the work traditionally and still predominantly done by women is valued so little in monetary value.

For mothers, the gap increases after having children with earnings continuing to fall for 12 years after their first child is born when wages are by a third less then for men. It seems that parenting has a penalty but only for mothers as fathers do not suffer the same drop in salary.

Our worth and our belonging are not negotiated with other people.
Brené Brown

Sadly, we often fail to value what is given freely. Families and society would not function without the unfailing support of women, yet their contribution is more than just financial. While many policy reports call for increased childcare funding to enable women to work, we also need to value the work of raising children. Mothers are irreplaceable, there is no substitute for the love and care they provide.

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