On average, women do 50% more unpaid work than men.
Women spend twice as much time doing unpaid work like cooking, childcare, and housework than men. If a woman works full-time, time outside of work is more likely to be committing to unpaid work like domestic, parenting and caring responsibilities; this can have detrimental effects on women’s mental health as women are forced to juggle workplace and household responsibilities, making women more likely to experience stress, anxiety and burnout.
A trial by Four Day Week Global, spanning 6 countries and 33 companies, recorded that men who worked a four-day week spent 22% more time on childcare and 23% more time on housework; it also reported that during the trial, burnout, stress and anxiety were reduced more for women than for men. This data shows that by implementing a shorter working week, we can reduce gender inequalities both in the workplace and at home. A shorter working week could mean men taking on a bigger share of domestic and parenting work or it could mean women having more time to rest, reducing levels of stress and increasing their productivity, therefore improving chances of career advancement.
One of the biggest reasons for women leaving full-time work is the cost of childcare. The average cost of sending a child under two to nursery, part-time (25 hours), has risen to £8,194 a year.
Full article at https://www.wbg.org.uk/article/breaking-the-9-5-how-a-four-day-week-and-flexible-working-can-promote-gender-equality
(I know this is an issue that gets discussed and argued about but never seems to change, but thought some might find it interesting to read about this trial.)