International Women's Day - We Need More Than Fluffy Sentiment

As we approach International Women's Day I've been thinking about the law. What feels like a lifetime ago at the age of 18, I studied law at Southampton University. Three years of truly understanding that the law, as most of us experience it, is not about justice but about power. I took a course on Law and Discrimination in 1983 where we studied the Equal Pay Act of 1970 which came into force on December 29, 1975. The Sex Discrimination Act which came into force on the same day and the Race Relations Act of 1976. 

The whole thrust of the legislation was to ensure that in terms of pay, there would no longer be a disparity between what men were paid and what women were paid for work that was deemed to be of equal value. The Sex Discrimination Act was to end discrimination based on sex or marital status and the Race Relations Act was intended to halt discrimination based on race, colour, ethnic origin, or national origin in employment, housing, or public services . My then tutor for Family Law, a particularly odious man, advised businesses on how to exploit the loopholes in the legislation. He also famously stated in a tutorial that in divorce, to protect their masculinity, fathers should always be given custody of sons but mothers could keep the daughters. I'm still cross about it today.

It's now 2025, it's 50 years after that legislation was passed, (it was incorporated into the Equality Act of 2010) and where are we? How have we, our daughters and grand daughters benefitted over these years? 50 years on, has pay inequality, sex and race discrimination ended? No it has not. 

Dismally, the stats for 2024 make grim reading but they are important because if we don't draw attention to our position, nothing will change. Using International Women's Day to write fluffy sentiments about how valued women in the workplace are or how good it is to work alongside women should be a given. Instead, look at the stats.

There is structural inequality in the UK - women are the majority of people in low paid and precarious work, as well as those more likely to face discrimination over the course of their working life

• More women (3.5%) than men (2.8%) are employed on zero-hours contracts.
• 6.5% of women do not earn enough to qualify for sick pay compared to 2.8% of men.
• The gender earnings gap (weekly pay) was 25% for all workers in 2024 while the gender pay gap was 14.3%.
• More women (10.5%) than men (7.2%) are classified as low earners.
• 72% of people who work part-time are women.
• 25.1% of women compared to 19.1% of men are classified as economically inactive.
• Women's Budget Group found that BAME women are paid less than their white counterparts and BAME men are paid less than their white counterparts but still more than women

There are several interesting points to digest in looking at these stats, the economically inactive disparity is because women still take responsibility for the majority of unpaid care of the family. We think of this traditionally as the care of young children but actually for older women who have been working their whole lives, the need to care for ageing parents, sick partners and increasingly for grandchildren means that many women leave work to undertake these caring responsibilities for years, well past retirement age. 

This also presents a massive health issue, just as women are approaching the peri- menopause and menopause which is challenging in itself, they often find themselves with stressful work and increasing care responsibilities. Beyond menopause, women in their 60s and 70s are frequently caring simultaneously for elderly parents and young grandchildren because, apart from love, it is an economic necessity. This ongoing work for older women is largely unnoticed and rarely acknowledged.

For the 72% of part-time working women, the security of full time working benefits are less applicable so, for example, they may not be entitled to sick pay or have the same job security. It's harder to find accommodation not just because of rent but also many private rentals now have a minimum salary requirement far beyond part time pay rates.

Very interestingly there are greater pay inequalities in people over 40, for example women in senior management roles are paid 10% less than their male counterparts which has increased from previous years. 

So I look back over the last 50 years and find myself thinking that far from reducing, the barriers to having a secure, well paid working life are so hard now. The position of women in employment is differently precarious to the 70s and 80s, the stress is so high because the whole jobs market employs a 'more for less' approach creating constant uncertainty and anxiety. It is punishing. I look at what is unfolding in the US in terms of the assault on women's basic human rights and feel utterly sickened that a serving President (a convicted rapist) is pursuing essentially misogynist policies, it fills me with dread.

So it is with incredible gratitude that I get to do what I do, it's a fortune of birth and education, living in a time when to own a house meant a hugely appreciating asset and having a partner in full time work, this has freed me to pursue a career that has nourished and supported me. I'm very aware of how lucky I have been.

It has driven the ethos behind the business, where other employers may see empowering women as unimportant, we see it as a responsibility. Where other skincare businesses prey on promoting insecurity, We don't. Ever. We promote a positive view of women of all ages, we make products to quietly but deliberately support both mind and body because it's in our gift to do so. We can't change it all, but we can gradually chip away and offer kinder working practices for our team and real care for our clients and yes, working with the women I do is a really great privilege.