Breaking the 9-5: How a four-day week and flexible working can promote gender equality

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.

According to data from the OECD, the UK is now the third most expensive country for childcare in the world.

This cost could be reduced if companies implemented more flexible working options; for example, a shorter working week could reduce the overall weekly cost of childcare; options to work from home and flexible working hours could allow parents to work around school schedules. If childcare costs were reduced, the number of women who remain in full-time employment would increase and women could have more of a choice to remain in full-time employment after having children.

Since women are more likely to leave full-time employment due to having children, they are poorer in comparison to their male counterparts later in life. According to data from Pensions Policy Institute, on average women retire with £69,000 in pension savings, compared to £205,000 for men, a gap of 92%. This disparity can be explained by women leaving full-time employment to look after their children, creating gaps in employment history and reducing chances of career progression. By promoting more flexible working patterns, such as a shorter working week or options to work from home, we can reduce barriers to women’s employment, increasing women’s wealth both in their present-day lives and later ones.

Another way more flexible working patterns can promote gender equality is by supporting women who suffer from chronic health conditions. For example, in the UK, 1 in 10 women suffer from endometriosis, a chronic disease which is associated with causing life-impacting pelvic pain, painful periods and infertility. By allowing for increased flexible working patterns, like the option to work from home, women who suffer from such conditions can be better supported, retain working hours and increase productivity and participation in work.

Furthermore, a study by Bupa Global & UK found that over a third of women feel they can’t be honest with their managers when taking a sick day due to painful periods and over 47% of women, who have periods, experience severe period pains most months. This data highlights the number of women who are either suffering in pain at work or not being transparent about the extent of their period pain due to the fear of being judged or not taken seriously. This could be reduced by the provision of better flexibility in work schedules; for instance, by allowing women to make up for the days that they were unwell in their own time or by shortening the overall time they have to remain at work in pain.

By implementing a shorter working week and more flexible working patterns companies can promote gender equality by supporting women in the workplace and at home. This will have both short-term and long-term benefits, increasing women’s wealth throughout their lifetime, improving family dynamics by creating a more equal share of domestic responsibilities and improving women’s productivity and well-being at work.

By supporting women in the workplace, you support women and their families everywhere.

Nasreen Gordon completed her undergraduate degree in Politics last year and has been doing a paid internship at the Women’s Budget Group since the start of 2025.

__________

The views and opinions expressed in this blogpost are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy position of the Women’s Budget Group.