It's also the intense emotional toll we, as women, face. "Women often feel the pressure of attempting to maintain and forward their career simultaneously," Clare explains. "This results in squeezing what would be a 5-day working week sometimes into three long exhausting days for example."
"Another well-documented phenomenon that is particular to many women is what has been coined the ‘mental load’," she adds. "That is the organising, list-making, planning and delegating going on in a women’s mind. It is making sure that the costume for book week is organised, the excursion note is signed, there are meals in the freezer for the next three dinners, the orthodontist appointment is attended and the toilet paper is refilled."
"This type of work is not only unpaid but unseen and can contribute to emotional burnout."
Although it's not all bad, with women making active changes to shift this narrative forward.
"We need to be part of the generational change by setting the tone in our families for equal responsibility when it comes to unpaid work," Clare explains. "Women need to be part of the solution by assessing what is working and what is not in their lives, and then speaking up to those around them when they require support. Too many women battle on trying to be everything to everyone without the realisation that they don’t need to be."
