Is the cost-of-living crisis highlighting workplace gender disparity?

New research has shed light on the effect of the cost-of-living crisis on working women, as more female employees are worried about their financial stability than their male counterparts.

equal pay — The cost-of-living crisis is making workplace gender disparity prominent as more women get financially stressed. iStock

When it comes to work-related stress there still seems to be a huge disparity between men and women. This has become more apparent in a recent study where it was revealed that women are more prone to financial stress due to the cost of living crisis than men.

The study done by the financial well-being platform Mintago titled 'Financial Wellbeing and Employee Benefits UK 2023' highlights the growing disparity between men and women in workplaces as the people of the country grapple with high inflation and the cost of living crisis.

This comes at a time when a mental health survey done by Mental Health Foundation revealed that the cost-of-living crisis in the UK is giving rise to a mental health pandemic. With 34 per cent feeling anxious and 29 per cent feeling stressed, the financial well-being of people is absolutely paramount in this regard.

Hence this new research by Mintago clearly demarcates where the fault lies and how to tackle this as the crisis escalates. A fifth of the companies in the UK are worried that the cost-of-living crisis will be far worse than the pandemic for them. Meanwhile, the London School Of Economics has termed the cost-of-living crisis as a public health issue as the physical and mental health of people, especially children and old people are at risk.

Key findings of the survey

Mintago surveyed 1,333 people in Britain to analyse their financial well-being in these trying times. The company surveyed both part-time and full-time workers for this purpose. The survey revealed:

One in two women participants of the survey were either 'very' or 'somewhat' stressed about their finances. That accounts for 48 per cent of the women surveyed. The number was less than one-third when it came to men in the survey. That accounted for 31 per cent of the men surveyed.

Digging deep it was revealed that the rising cost of living is the primary cause of concern for people, financially. An estimated 69 per cent of women were stressed about the cost of living crisis while 52 per cent were bothered by it.

Other than that, general money-related worries and financial concerns were the second most common cause of financial stress for 65 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men.
Job security caused financial stress in 24 per cent of men in the survey whereas for women it was 19 per cent.

The research study wanted to understand the factors behind financial stress in people and hence the UK employees were asked to select factors that affected the most in the current state of affairs in the country.

Employer-employee interaction needed

Speaking about the survey results, Rachele Carraro, financial wellbeing expert at Mintago said that the figures show the lack of interaction between employees and employees regarding financial well-being. She termed the statistics "startling" and stressed the necessity of employee-employer interactions regarding finances, especially for people dealing with societal disadvantages.

These types of workplace gender inequalities are at risk of slipping through the cracks without such interactions. As it would seem, companies need to take out time and indulge in open dialogues with their employees for better financial support as the cost-of-living crisis deepens. The results indicate that this could become a bigger issue if this financial burden on women isn't discussed and addressed in workplaces in the due course of time. The longer it sustains the more problematic it becomes.

Underlying signs of the gender pay gap

Mintago CEO, Chieu Cao, highlighted the gender pay gap, stressing it is common knowledge but the new research vindicates it further as it shows a wider impact of the inequality. With the ever-increasing inflation, the cost-of-living crisis will remain a critical issue for people and so the financial stress won't dissipate in the near future.

At present, the situation is such that employers can't afford to neglect the financial tension of employees. The employees should get the necessary support. Staff tools like access to financial advisers, interactive pension dashboards and financial education are absolutely essential to navigate through these challenging times.